The Sound of Two Heads Crashing
by Deltree
Summary: Momo and Ryoma, two of the densest and most oblivious people Fuji has ever met. Sometimes he wanted to just smack their heads together and tell them to get a clue. None of his plans seem to be working. What will it take to get these two together? MomoRyo
1. A Tale of Two Idiots

Title: The Sound of Two Heads Crashing

Pairing: MomoRyo. Also has some InuiKai, TezuFuji, and Golden Pair.

Disclaimer: I don't own own Prince of Tennis or its characters.

Summary: Momo and Echizen, two of the densest and most oblivious people Fuji had ever met. Sometimes he wanted to just smack their heads together and tell them to get a clue. None of his plans were working. What will it take to get them to notice their feelings for each other?

* * *

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Prologue: A Tale of Two Idiots

-

It took Fuji longer than he liked to admit to notice it. But then he could be excused, couldn't he? He'd been younger then, less experienced and understandably much more naïve about such things. And Momo and Echizen had been mostly out of his social sphere for almost a year. He was excused.

But eventually he did notice it. It was so blatantly obvious when you knew where to look.

Momo entered high school when Fuji was a second year. His outgoing and cheerful personality was an automatic hit with his peers and his good looks got him a fair amount of attention from the freshman girls. It wasn't unusual for a girl, shy and stuttering, to come up to Momo and hand him a love letter written with painstaking care. But, sadly for the girls, Momo turned all of the offers down.

Why? people asked. You could have anyone, they told him.

He was too busy, he answered. He just didn't have the time for a girlfriend right then.

Or the more honest:

"I'm just not interested in them, Fuji-senpai."

Fuji had mulled over this answer for some time, his curiosity raised. There was something about it that seemed off somehow. Momo seemed like a nice, normal boy. And what kind of nice, normal boy couldn't find it in himself to be interested in a single girl? Especially when he had so many to chose from.

Maybe he was picky, Fuji thought.

But then another thought came and Fuji turned to the younger boy for the answer.

"Do you still see Echizen, Momo?"

Momo gave him a strange look at the question. "Of course."

"And has Echizen ever had a girlfriend?"

Momo snorted in laughter. "Echizen?" he said. "Echizen only knows the other half of the human race exists because they scream at him from the bleachers. And even then, that doesn't mean he knows what they're actually put on Earth for."

This had given Fuji much to think about and he started watching the two of them together when he could.

Echizen would regularly come to their tennis matches, something he and Momo had done together the previous year. Now he sat in the stands, sometimes alone, sometimes with his little group of friends (they couldn't really be called the freshman trio anymore). And he would come by the benches after the matches and he and Momo would talk and bicker and just generally act like a pair of cute little brats.

They were good together, Fuji decided and then firmly put the whole matter behind him, hoping something would come of it but moving on to his next curiosity.

But now it was a year and a half later. Echizen had joined their ranks in high school and his and Momo's relationship hadn't progressed in the least.

Fuji had been content to wait, to let their relationship grow into something on its own, but at this rate they'd finally notice their feelings only when it was too late. And Fuji was going away to college in a few months. He wanted to be able to move on peacefully, knowing that things with his friends were as they should be. Everyone else had already been paired up. It was just those two that held out.

And so started his plans. Fuji tried subtle at first, tried to gradually bring their minds over to his point of view with a few carefully placed veiled statements. All he got in return was a weird look from Echizen and the comment, "Fuji-senpai is weird today."

Momo hadn't even noticed.

So he tried harder, each attempt a little blunter than the last. Finally he was walking up to them and asking them, point-blank, their opinion on gay sex.

That time, both had looked at him, horrified. But then they had turned to each other, blushed, and quickly looked away.

So that was some success. Enough to know that his efforts weren't in vain, but it was still so little. He was afraid he was going to have to be a little more elaborate in his plans.

He really hadn't expected Momo and Echizen to be this dense.

TBC?


	2. Push, Shove, Trip, and Go

I wanted to thank all those that reviewed. Thank you! Hopefully you like this chapter too and it's not too rushed sounding.

* * *

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Chapter #1: Push, Shove, Trip, and Go

-

Fuji watched Momo and Echizen interact closely for the next few days, wanting to gather as much information as he could before putting his plans into action. Finally, he decided that he had watched enough and it was time to act. But if his plans were going to work out he would need help.

"Eiji," Fuji said, sidling up to his best friend one Friday morning. Everyone was on the courts for morning practice, but practice hadn't actually started just yet so they were using the time to socialize. "How would you like to help me with something?"

Eiji turned away from his conversation with Oishi and blinked. "With what?"

Fuji didn't answer. Instead, he turned to watch Momo and Ryoma. Momo currently had Ryoma in a headlock and the younger boy struggled to free himself, tugging at Momo's arms around his neck and wriggling determinedly as Momo laughed. "Have you ever noticed how close Momo and Echizen are?" he asked.

"Yeah?" Eiji said, looking confused by the question. "They're friends."

"Are you so sure?" Fuji said, glancing back at Eiji.

"Well . . . yeah," Eiji said, "Why? Is something wrong with them? They seem fine to me." Eiji turned back to look at Momo and Ryoma. Ryoma had been finally freed of the headlock and was glaring angrily at Momo. Momo laughed and said something and Ryoma snapped something in reply that only made Momo laugh all the harder.

"Oh, no," Fuji said, "I'm sure they're fine. It's just . . . Are you sure they aren't something . . ." he paused significantly, glancing back at Eiji again, "more?"

"More?" Eiji blinked again, but then he seemed to get it and he suddenly smiled. "You mean like they like each other?" Excited, Eiji turned back to Oishi, who had been standing there silently as the two had this conversation. "Oishi! Fuji thinks Momo and Ochibi like each other too! It's not just me!"

Oishi smiled, but looked wary of where this was going.

Eiji turned back to Fuji, still excited. "What'd you want me to help you with? Is it something to help Momo and Ochibi?"

Fuji smiled. "Yes. I thought it was about time those two figured out their feelings."

Eiji nodded. "Definitely. Those two are taking forever."

"Eiji . . ." Oishi broke in reproachfully, "They aren't taking _that _long."

"Yes, they are," Eiji said stubbornly. "Ochibi is _sixteen_ now. He should've jumped Momo a year ago."

"Maybe they just aren't ready to admit they're, you know," Oishi tried to say this delicately, "gay."

"I think it's more they just don't know what they want," Fuji said. He smiled again. "And, as their senpai, it's our duty to help them figure it out."

Oishi still looked hesitant. "I just don't think we should interfere. We should let them figure things out by themselves."

Eiji snorted. "If we did that, they'd probably never figure things out. Ochibi still doesn't know what girls are for and he's sixteen. Can you imagine how long it'll be before he figures out that boys can be just as good?"

Fuji nodded in agreement. "And Momo probably still thinks he's straight. It's not healthy for him to go on deluding himself like that."

"I just don't know . . ." Oishi said hesitantly.

But Eiji knew how to work his boyfriend. "Don't you want them to be happy?"

"Of course! But—

Eiji didn't let him finish. "This'll make them happy. Just trust us okay?"

Oishi was silent a moment, deliberating over this, but then he nodded. "Okay, but I want to help."

Fuji's smile widened. This was just what he had hoped for. "Perfect. Now, the idea is this . . ."

Oishi and Eiji leaned in closer as Fuji detailed his plan. When Fuji finished, Eiji smiled.

"This is gonna be fun!"

* * *

"I'm gonna beat you, Mamushi!"

Kaidoh hissed and sped up. Momo wouldn't be getting ahead of him if he could help it.

The Regulars had finished their stretches and were just starting on their twenty laps around the courts. Momo and Kaidoh were currently in the lead, neck and neck, with Tezuka and Ryoma following behind them and Oishi and Fuji following close behind those two. Following after them were Eiji and then Inui, who had once again upped the weight of the weights around his ankles and wrists.

Fuji turned to Oishi with a smile. "Shall we speed up? We don't want them winning."

Oishi shot him a look, knowing what he was planning, but still nodded and sped up. Increasing his own speed, Fuji pulled even with Ryoma and gave the younger boy a bright smile.

Ryoma gave Fuji a weird look, but otherwise ignored him to focus on his running. Up ahead, Kaidoh was currently winning the race, Momo beginning to fall behind. Grumbling under his breath at this, Momo tried to put on more speed, but he was quickly running out of energy.

Ryoma putting on a burst of speed, soon Momo and Ryoma were almost tied, with Kaidoh only a few steps ahead. Seeing this, Fuji sped up again, pulling even with Momo and Ryoma. Oishi and Tezuka followed closely behind, with Eiji a few steps after them and Inui following.

Deciding he couldn't find a better chance, Fuji let himself swerve, bumping hard into Ryoma. Not expecting this, Ryoma was pushed off his course and almost ran into Momo. Momo quickly swerved out of the way, but lost his footing and stumbled, tripping over his own two feet. Instinctively reaching out to keep himself from falling, Momo grabbed the first thing in reach which just happened to be Ryoma. The two fell down to lie in a tangled heap on the ground. Ryoma was pulled under the weight of Momo, landing with Momo half on his lap, half on his chest.

"Momo-senpai!" Ryoma protested as the runners continued on, Oishi, Tezuka, Eiji, and Inui all swerving to avoid the pile they made.

"Sorry! Sorry!" Momo said, quickly trying to stand up. Pushing himself up with his hands, Momo tried to stand, but Ryoma tried to get up at the same time and their tangled legs caused Momo fall over again.

"Momo-senpai!" Ryoma protested a second time. "You're squishing me!"

"Sorry!" Momo apologized again. "Sorry! I'm getting up. Hold still." Successfully getting to his feet, Momo held out a hand for Ryoma, who ignored it to stand up by himself.

"Come on!" Momo said, turning to start running again. "We can't let the Mamushi beat us!"

* * *

Later, Tezuka allowed them a ten minute break and they Regulars split up into their usual social groups.

"Hoi! Hoi!" Eiji said, suddenly appearing out of nowhere and draping himself over Ryoma. "Ochibi!" he cheered.

"Kikumaru-senpai," Ryoma said dully under the weight of the older boy, keeping his irritation closely in check.

"Ne, Momo," Eiji said to the laughing Momo, "Don't you just love Ochibi?"

"Yeah!" Momo said laughingly then leaned over to pinch Ryoma's cheeks. "He's just so cute."

Ryoma glared at him for that remark but didn't say anything in reply.

"Isn't he?" Eiji said obliviously, "And he's so huggable!" Shifting so that Ryoma was in his arms, Eiji gave him a big hug. "Come on!" he said to Momo, letting go of Ryoma to push the younger boy out in front of him. "You should give it a try!"

Momo laughed but shook his head. "That's okay, Eiji-senpai. I'm good."

"No! No!" Eiji said, "You need to hug him!"

"No really," Momo said, smiling, "I think Echizen's had all the hugs he needed already."

Eiji pouted, still holding Ryoma out in front of him. "You never have enough hugs."

"Yeah, but I think Echizen'll probably bite me if I get too close. So I'm gonna stay out over here out of range."

"That's not true," Eiji looked down at Ryoma. "Would you really bite him?"

"Yes," Ryoma said flatly, without hesitation.

"That's not very nice. He just wants to give you a hug."

Ryoma looked up at his senpai dully. "I don't want a hug."

"Everybody wants hugs," Eiji said confidently, "Some people just don't know it." Eiji hugged Ryoma to him again. "See? Isn't this nice? Don't you want Momo to hug you?"

"No," Ryoma said.

Momo snickered, trying to contain his laughter at Ryoma's expression at this, couldn't do it and burst out laughing.

"I'm fine, Kikumaru-senpai," Ryoma continued, trying to stay patient with the older boy, knowing that, in Eiji's mind, he was just being nice.

"Now you're angry," Eiji said. "You really need a hug." He turned to Momo. "Here. Catch!" and he threw Ryoma at Momo.

"Eiji-senpai!" Momo protested, looking surprised.

Startled, Ryoma stumbled and nearly fell. Momo caught him before he could reach the ground and quickly set him on his own two feet before Ryoma could protest the change of hands.

"Kikumaru-senpai!" Angry, Ryoma turned back to face Eiji only to find him gone, off to talk to Fuji apparently. "What was _that_ for?" Ryoma asked no one.

"I dunno," Momo said, but then he shrugged. "I guess, he was just being weird."

* * *

Oishi couldn't believe he was actually going to do this. It just felt so wrong.

And besides that, _how_ was he going to do this?

Oishi stood in the clubhouse as everybody was getting changed into their school clothes for the day. Fuji and Eiji were changing next to him, Eiji giving him encouraging looks, but Momo and Ryoma were changing on the other side of the room. He had no reason to be over there. How was he going to push them into each other?

"Are you doing it?" Eiji whispered.

Closing his eyes, feeling guilty for his part in Fuji's scheme, Oishi nodded. Sitting down he finished tying his shoes then stood up and walked over to the other side of the room. It would look weird but what else could he do?

Momo had his shirt off and was rummaging around in his locker looking for something while Ryoma changed into his school pants. Walking quickly, Oishi timed it so that as he was walking by his hip hit Ryoma in the back hard, pushing him face first into Momo's stomach. Reflexively, Momo caught the younger boy, but Ryoma quickly pulled away and glared over his shoulder at Oishi.

"Sorry! Sorry!" Oishi apologized quickly, actually feeling sorry.

Ryoma's anger quickly left him as he realized who it was and he grumbled, "It's okay."

Momo looked at Oishi briefly then looked around the room and just when Oishi knew Momo was going to say something that would require him to explain why he was over there in the first place, Momo shrugged and turned back to his locker, pulling out his shirt.

Oishi gave a sigh of relief and quickly got out of there.

That hadn't gotten the result that Oishi knew Fuji wanted but it had worked and Oishi's turn was over.

* * *

They didn't have the chance to do anything until lunch time.

"Oh hey, did I tell you what happened in Math? We had a substitute today and she let us work in groups so I was with these three girls."

Ryoma raised a brow and smirked but didn't say anything as Momo and he continued to walk down the hallway.

Momo continued. "And then Ryoko-chan, one of the girls, told me what her boyfriend said and she seemed really upset. So I put an arm over her shoulder, you know? To try and make her feel better. But then Ami-chan, this other girl, got really mad and called Ryoko-chan a slut."

The hallway being crowded with the many students of the school, Momo pushed by a group of rough-housing second-years and ducked out of the way of a flying arm. Ryoma swerved around a group of people gathering at their locker and finally the two reached Ryoma's locker. Setting his bag on the ground as Momo stopped to wait for him, Ryoma fiddled with the lock on his locker, twisting the dial in his combination.

"And then Kimiko-chan, the other girl, said of course Ryoko-chan was a slut. She already had a boyfriend and she was still throwing herself at me. And then Ryoko-chan--"

"It must do wonders for your ego," Ryoma said, opening his locker and shoving his books inside.

Interrupted mid-flow, Momo stopped talking to give Ryoma a blank look. "What?"

Ryoma smirked up at him. "To have girls fighting over you like that?"

Momo blinked, then: "Hey!" Momo said, looking insulted, "Are you saying I'm conceited?"

Ryoma hmm'd to himself, the amused look on his face Momo's answer to that as Ryoma got out the books needed for the class he had after lunch. He didn't want to have to come back to his locker.

"I'm not conceited," Momo said, shifting so that he happened to be standing between Ryoma and the mass of student flowing down the hall. "It's not my fault if girls like me. And besides you have just as many girls throwing themselv— Woah!"

Something pushing him, Momo fell forward, landing with one hand holding him up, Ryoma between him and the cold metal of the locker. They were so close Momo could feel Ryoma's breath on his neck and he froze.

"Echizen . . ." Momo said, staring down at his friend, frozen where he was.

"Momo-senpai," Ryoma said, glaring up at him, "Get off of me." Hands coming up to push against Momo's chest.

"Ah!" Momo said, jumping into motion and a few feet back. Blushing, he scratched the back of his neck nervously and looked around. "Who pushed me?"

Ryoma shrugged, not caring, and shoved the last of his books in his bag, throwing his back pack over his shoulder. Then he looked up at Momo, seeming to ask him silently, "Are we going or not?"

"Yeah, let's go," Momo said and started down the hall.

Unseen by Momo and Echizen, a pair of eyes across the hallway narrowed and watched Fuji disappear down the hall. Inui frowned and glanced down at his notebook. How to note this?

Next to him, Kaidoh shifted restlessly. "Are we going or not, Inui-senpai?"

"Fuji is up to something," Inui answered, writing this in his notebook.

Kaidoh didn't care. "Fuji-senpai is always up to something."

"Yes . . . I suppose we should see what he is doing."

Kaidoh jerked and looked up at his senpai. "That's not what I said!"

Inui hmm'd to himself, adjusting his glasses and ignoring Kaidoh as he put his notebook away and walked off.

Grumbling under his breath, Kaidoh followed.

* * *

"Ah," Inui said, looking enlightened, "So that's what you're doing." Inui had followed Fuji down the hall and found the other boy seated with Oishi and Eiji at a table, Tezuka apparently conveniently in the library looking for a book.

Seated next to him on the bench, Kaidoh grumbled something unintelligible under his breath, not caring about anything that had to do with his rival.

"I must admit," Inui continued, ignoring his restless boyfriend, "I had noticed that pair and have been keeping track of their progress."

Having somewhat expected this, Fuji smiled. "Then do you have anything to add?"

"Yes," Inui said, nodding calmly, and did some quick calculations in his head. Finally he said, "If you continue with this method you have a 43 percent probability of success."

"That's good!" Eiji cheered, but then looked hesitant and turned to Fuji. "That is good, right?"

"The more opportunities you have to implement this plan the higher the probability becomes," Inui added. "So if you are able to push those two together four more times the probability of success increases two whole points."

"What's the point?" Kaidoh finally couldn't help but ask. "So you push those two on top of each other. What good does that do? How does that make them realize they like each other?"

"We figure that if they end up on top of each other enough times, even they can figure out for themselves that they like each other," Eiji said cheerfully.

"Yes," Inui agreed, nodding, "The closer the proximity the higher the awareness of the other person."

Kaidoh looked skeptical. "And that works?"

Inui just looked at him, saying, "It worked well enough with you."

"Oh." Going quiet at this, Kaidoh blushed and looked down at the table.

"And so I take it you two are willing to help?" Fuji asked, getting them back on point.

Inui nodded and answered for the both of them. "Of course."

Kaidoh looked up, looking like he wanted to protest. "But—

Inui placed a hand on his shoulder, telling him to stay quiet, as he continued, "We would be more than willing."

"I never said— Inui just looked at him again and Kaidoh stopped. "Fine," he muttered.

Fuji smiled at how well trained Inui had Kaidoh/

"Then let's go find them before lunch is over!" Eiji said. "We don't have much time!"

"Yes," Fuji said, getting to his feet. "We should go."

Wanting to make sure, Momo and Ryoma stayed mostly unscarred, Oishi quickly stood up and said, "I'll come with you."

"But it would look strange if Kaidoh or I were to come with you," Inui said calmly. "We will stay here."

Kaidoh hissed in relief.

* * *

They found Momo and Ryoma lying down under a tree towards the back of campus, their bags at their side.

"Momo! Ochibi!" Eiji called, waving a hand in the air wildly. "We came to visit!"

Propping himself up on his elbows, Ryoma looked at them steadily, raising a brow at his more hyper senpai.

"What?" Momo groaned, rolling over and rubbing at his eyes. "Who?"

"Kikumaru-senpai, Fuji-senpai, and Oishi-senpai," Ryoma told him as Momo groggily sat up, awakened from his nap.

"What?" Momo asked again, a little more awake this time. Then he turned to face his senpai. "Oh," he said, seeing them, "Hi."

"Oh. Hi," Eiji imitated his dull hello perfectly but then pouted. "What kind of hello was that?"

"A tired one," Momo said, rubbing his eyes again as he leaned over on the grass. "What are you doing here?"

"Mean," Eiji said, still pouting. "Can't we visit anymore?" he asked, settling himself down cross-legged on the grass.

"You normally don't all visit without a reason," Ryoma pointed out.

"Well, maybe we wanted to try out something new," Eiji said. Oishi said nothing, not wanting to give their real reason away by accident now that Ryoma and Momo were actively questioning their presence, and sat down next to his boyfriend on the grass. Fuji sat on Eiji's other side and smiled.

"We just wanted to see how you were," Fuji said, almost cheerfully. Ryoma eyed him with distrust. It generally wasn't good when Fuji was cheerful.

"We're fine," Momo said, looking at them all questioningly.

Eiji looked at Ryom hard for a moment, frowning as though he was trying to puzzle something out. Then he seemed to get his answer and smiled. "Hey, Ochibi," he said, "Did you grow?"

Ryoma gave him a weird look. "No."

"Yeah," Momo said, looking at Ryoma and then turning to Eiji. "He's still the same shorty as yesterday."

Ryoma gave Momo a glare at that. "I'm not short."

Ejji ignored them. "No, really. I didn't notice it this morning, but I think you actually grew!" Eiji cheerfully clambered to his feet. "Stand up!" he urged. "I wanna see how tall you are!"

Fuji smiled at Ryoma encouragingly. "Go on. He might be right."

Oishi smiled nervously when Ryoma turned to look at him next. "You might as well."

Finally, Ryoma turned to Momo. "Yeah," Momo said, smiling in amusement, "Prove to them your midget-ness."

At that, Ryoma glared at him, but climbed to his feet nevertheless. "Midget-ness isn't a word," he grumbled then glared at Momo one final time as he reasserted, "And I'm not short. Everyone else is just huge." Then he moved to stand next to Eiji, looking up at his senpai impatiently.

"Turn around," Eiji said. Ryoma sighed in annoyance but did as he was told. "Now turn this way," Eiji ordered and Ryoma turned that way. He was now standing looking straight at the tree and Momo.

"Alright!" Eiji said and bounced behind Ryoma, where he stood as though he really was going to get someone to measure them, but then abruptly turned and shoved Ryoma forward.

Ryoma didn't have the time to protest as he landed over Momo's lap, only his hands shooting out to catch him keeping him from landing face first in the grass by Momo's side. .

"Ah!" Momo cried, surprised as he suddenly had a lapful of teenage boy.

"What was _that_ for?" Ryoma asked, pushing himself up and glaring up at Eiji from his spot on the ground. He totally ignored the fact that he was still essentially in Momo's lap.

"Well I think it's about time we left," Fuji said, sounding cheerful again as he got to his feet. Carefully not looking at Momo and Ryoma in his guilt, Oishi stood up as well.

"Bye!" Eiji said and then ran away before they could respond. Fuji and Oshi followed behind at a much slower pace.

Ryoma frowned. "What was that for?" he asked again.

"Um," Momo tapped his shoulder, "Echizen?"

"Yeah," Ryoma turned so that he was almost nose to nose with Momo.

This didn't make Momo any less embarrassed. "You're, um, still on my lap."

Shocked, Ryoma looked down to see that yes, he actually was. Blushing, he quickly moved away.

* * *

Momo and Echizen decided to write lunch off as just their senpai being weird again and went to classes with the incident put far behind them.

Ryoma stared at Momo. "You're teacher said what?"

"I know!" Momo said, "I couldn't believe it either. I mean what kind of teacher says that?"

Ryoma snorted and turned his attention back to shoving through the people in the hallway. "Yours apparently." The two of them were walking down the hall, Momo walking closer to the lockers and having a much easier time of making his way through the crowd.

"I thought that was, like, illegal or something." Momo said, sidestepping a freshman girl.

Ryoma spared Momo an unimpressed look. "You make it sound like he propositioned you."

"Well, he might as well have!" Momo cried, "I think I would have preferred it."

"Eww," Ryoma looked disgusted, "I've seen your teacher. That's—Hey!"

Eiji ran by, shoulder knocking into Ryoma and pushing him into Momo.

"Sorry!" they heard him call back as he continued running.

Pulling himself away from Momo to stand on his own two feet, Ryoma grumbled angry things under his breath.

Momo just laughed. "Wow. That's like the fourth time today you've run into me. You're really not having any luck today, are you?"

"I really think they're doing it on purpose," Ryoma muttered angrily.

"Nah. That's just you being paranoid. That thing at lunch, sure. But all the other times? No way."

"I _swear _they planned this," Ryoma said seriously, glaring up at Momo.

"Okay then," Momo said, deciding to go about this in a different way, "they planned this. Why?"

Ryoma didn't have an answer to that and looked down at the floor. "I don't know."

Momo smiled. "Then they didn't plan it."

* * *

Of course, things only got weirder at practice and Momo had to admit that maybe Ryoma wasn't far off in his paranoia.

Kaidoh growled, getting in Momo's face. "Bastard."

"At least I don't think hissing is _normal_," Momo replied heatedly.

Kaidoh snarled wordlessly, infuriated, and looked like he was about to attack. But then he seemed to catch a glimpse of something over Momo's shoulder. 'What?' his face seemed to ask. What he got in reply apparently wasn't what he wanted. And then, if Momo wasn't mistaken, he mouthed the word, "Now?" his expression one of can't this wait?

Curious, Momo looked over his shoulder. "What are you—two hands roughly shoved him and he stumbled back but thankfully kept his balance.

"Hey!" he shouted, turning back to glare at Kaidoh, ignoring Kaidoh's strange behavior for the moment.

Kaidoh hissed and shoved him again, this time right into Ryoma and the two fell, tangled together, Momo landing almost right in Ryoma's lap.

"Momo-senpai!" Ryoma squawked indignantly.

Momo immediately got up and tried to placate his angry friend. "Sorry! Sorry! It was the Mamushi!"

Ryoma hmph'd and got to his feet, brushing himself off and trying to regain some of his lost dignity. Briefly he glared at Momo and then he left.

Momo turned to eye Kaidoh threateningly, "I'll deal with you later, Mamushi." Then he went after his friend, wanting to make sure he really wasn't mad.

* * *

"You know, you might be right about it being on purpose."

Ryome looked up at him. "What?"

"This pushing thing," Momo said as they walked to their favorite burger shop, "I think it might really be on purpose."

Ryoma snorted and looked away. "I thought you said I was being paranoid."

"Well yeah, _then_," Momo said, "But the Mamushi looked over my shoulder at someone before he pushed me."

Ryoma looked at him skeptically.

"I swear!" Momo said, defending his statement. "They had a whole face conversation."

"But why would Kaidoh-senpai want to push you into me?" Ryoma asked and Momo was stumped.

He looked down at the ground with a frown, his theory running into a wall. "I don't know."

Ryoma looked at him patronizingly, mockingly echoing his words from that afternoon. "Then they didn't plan it."

Momo glared at him. "Are you mocking me?"

Ryoma didn't even try to look innocent. "Of co—

"Hey!" Momo protested as Ryoma suddenly fell into him, instinctively catching the younger boy before he fell to the ground.

Pulling himself away quickly, Ryoma looked up and down the street for who had pushed him. Then his eyes got wide as he spotted a familiar form quickly walking away. "Momo-senpai," he said tugging on Momo's sleeve and pointing in the direction Inui had gone. "It was Inui-senpai."

Momo stared as Inui's form disappeared into the crowd. "Okay now I _know_ they're doing this on purpose," Momo said loudly.

* * *

"This isn't working," Eiji complained later when the group of conspirators gathered at Fuji's house.

"That's okay," Fuji said, before smiling almost evilly. Kaidoh shivered, feeling almost sorry for his rival for a quick moment. Then he remembered how much he hated the moron and the feeling passed.

"I have a new plan," Fuji said.

* * *

TBC?


	3. Do You Dare?

Wow. I got lots of reviews that chapter. Thank you! Hopefully you like this chapter just as much.

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Chapter #3: Do You Dare?

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"And so that's why you need to come over to my house after school," Fuji said, finishing his long spiel. He was trying to get Tezuka to agree to help him with his plans for Momo and Ryoma. He knew Tezuka wouldn't actually help out, but Fuji liked to keep Tezuka feeling included.

Tezuka crossed his arms over his chest and glared at him coldly. "No."

"It's for the good of the team," Fuji tried.

"This has nothing to do with the team," Tezuka said, "This is just another excuse for you to meddle in other people's lives."

Fuji smiled, looking almost pleased at that remark. "You make it sound like that's a bad thing."

Not impressed, Tezuka upped the strength of his glare. "It _is_ a bad thing."

Fuji waved that off easily. "Nonsense. It always turns out for the best, doesn't it?"

"One day it won't," Tezuka said gravely. "And until then I'm warning you. Don't meddle."

"Fine. Fine," Fuji said, seeming to relent. "I'll leave them alone."

Hearing this, Tezuka sighed and reached up to rub his brow wearily, knowing Fuji would do no such thing. Why he liked this boy, he'd never know.

* * *

"What do you think this is about?" Momo asked, looking down at Ryoma as they walked to Fuji's house after practice.

Not looking at him, Ryoma shrugged, not really caring that much.

"You don't think this is gonna be more like yesterday, do you?" Momo asked nervously.

Ryoma looked at him, unimpressed with the question. "Why would he bring us to his house to push us into each other? He could do that just fine at school and he didn't."

"Yeah, but this is _Fuji-senpai_. He's weird like that. We could be walking into a trap."

"We probably are," Ryoma said, sounding bored with it all as he turned back to the path.

Momo stared at him disbelievingly. "And you don't care? Something bad is gonna happen!"

"It probably will," still sounding bored.

"Echizen!"

* * *

Momo had gone to school the next day with some trepidation, fearing that at any moment one of his senpai would jump out of nowhere and shove, trip, or push him into Ryoma. But his paranoia had proved baseless. The others hadn't done anything any stranger than usual and the day had actually turned out somewhat peaceful. Of course then Fuji had approached him, informing Momo of the mandatory team get together Fuji would be hosting that afternoon at his house. Momo had agreed to come, but as Fuji walked away he had then been left with the strange feeling that he had just made a horrible mistake.

Either way, he still had to go and so he arrived at Fuji's house with Ryoma a little after four, hesitant and not too sure he actually wanted to be there.

"Kawamura-senpai," Momo said upon entering the house, looking surprised at finding the other boy there. "What are you doing here?" He'd thought this was a team get together. Kawamura wasn't on the team anymore.

Not that Momo wasn't happy to see him. It was just strange.

Kawamura smiled weakly at him from the couch and waved a hand, not answering the question.

Fuji smiled cheerfully, "I happened to run into Taka-san on the street the other day and asked him if he'd like to join us. Isn't that nice? It'll be just like old times."

Momo eyed Fuji warily as he and Ryoma walked further into the house and sat down on the couch next to Kawamura, Momo still feeling uneasy about the whole situation and not too sure he liked how happy Fuji seemed. "Yeah . . ." he said slowly and almost suspiciously, "nice . . ."

Fuji didn't know what Momo had to be so suspicious about. He hadn't done anything unusual and the festivities hadn't even started yet. Kawamura's presence wasn't _that_ strange, was it?

"When's everybody else getting here?" Momo asked, looking for change of topic.

"Soon. Soon. Don't worry."

It ended up being a while before everybody arrived, Eiji and Oishi (the last ones) coming through the door nearly half an hour later.

"Alright," Fuji said, clapping his hands together. "Let's get started. Who wants to play a game?"

"Oh!" Eiji said, raising his hand and jumping up and down in his seat excitedly. "I do! I do!"

"What kind of game?" Oishi asked, dutifully following the script he and the others had worked out the night before.

"Seven Minutes in Heaven!" Eiji suggested, still following the script.

Ryoma looked somewhat curious. "What's that?" he asked, honestly not having a clue.

"Erm." Momo looked uncomfortable at the subject. How to explain the game to his rather innocent best friend? "Nothing." That worked.

He'd known Ryoma would have no clue what the game was. Fuji smiled and continued with the script. "Any other suggestions?"

"I wanna play Seven Minutes in Heaven," Eiji whined, having fun with his part.

"Yes, but I think we should play something that everybody knows the rules to," Fuji said gently.

"Plus there's no girls here," Momo said. "How would we play?"

"How about I Never," Inui said, watching to see the reactions to his suggestion.

"Oh, yeah," Eiji said, acting like he liked that idea. He turned to Fuji. "Do you have any alcohol?"

Oishi tried to look alarmed. "Alcohol? Eiji! We're too young to drink!"

Fuji ignored Oishi, turning to Eiji. "Only if you are willing to explain to my parents why they have eight drunk teenagers in their living room when they get home."

That idea shot down, just like it was supposed to be, Eiji put on a grimace. "Oh yeah."

Ryoma turned to Momo, not having a clue what his senpai were talking about. "What's I Never?"

"It's a drinking game," Momo said simply, thinking that all he needed to say.

"I know," Fuji said happily, continuing with the script. "How about Truth or Dare?"

Momo blinked when it seemed like the others were actually thinking about that suggestion. "Don't we need girls for that too?" he asked, looking around the room. "We're all guys."

He'd known Momo would make that protest. Fuji smiled again and said cheerfully, "To only make the game all the more interesting!"

"Well, okay . . ." Momo said, not too sure about this but willing to go along with it. "But I'm not kissing the Mamushi."

Kaidoh growled. "Like I'd want to kiss you anyway."

"You're right. I forgot. You're too busy fantasizing about Inui-senpai."

Just getting more confused by that comment, Ryoma blinked.

Kaidoh blushed and hissed in embarrassment, looking down at his lap.

"Yes, well," Inui continued with his part, adjusting his glasses and looking a little pleased, "if we are going to play, I believe we should begin."

"Um," Kawamura, the only one besides Momo and Echizen not in on the plan, spoke up hesitantly, "If it's alright with you, I think I'm going to sit this one out."

"Nonsense," Fuji said, pulling him back down before he could stand. "We all have to play."

Rather enjoying his next line, Inui smiled evilly. "And if anyone doesn't wish to participate or refuses to do what they are asked then they must drink this." He brought out a pitcher containing his newest juice. "Happy Happy Fun Juice V. 2.0"

Seeing the juice, everyone but Fuji flinched and looked frightened. Even those that had already known that Inui was going to bring it didn't have to fake their worry. They may have decided to use the juice to guarantee Momo and Ryoma didn't back out of anything, but that didn't mean they wanted to drink the juice themselves.

Kawamura grimaced and sat back in his seat. Why had he come again? He wanted to see his old teammates? Next time he'd think twice before saying okay to anything Fuji asked.

"Where's Tezuka-buchou?" Ryoma asked, flinching away from the juice and wanting a change of topic. He'd just then noticed the captain's absence and wondered how Tezuka had gotten out of coming. He wished he hadn't had to come.

"He had a few things to do and couldn't make it," Fuji said easily, having expected that question to come up at some time. "Now come. Everybody make a circle."

Ryoma nodded, accepting the answer, and reluctantly moved to sit on the floor of Fuji's living room in a circle. He ended up sitting next to Momo with Oishi on his other side and Fuji straight across from him. Fuji gave him a smile and Ryoma frowned.

"Now who wants to go first?" Fuji asked, continuing with his part and looking around the circle.

"Oh! I do! I do!" Eiji said, just like the script had told him to, raising his hand and waving it in the air excitedly.

Fuji laughed at his antics. "Very well. Eiji, you can go first."

"Great!" Eiji smiled then turned on his boyfriend. They had decided to not go straight to Momo and Ryoma in order to make everything seem much more natural. "Oishi! Truth or Dare?"

"Er," Oishi faked looking undecided then said. "Truth," just like he was supposed to.

"Is it true," Eiji began, looking deadly serious. They hadn't been able to come up with a truth for him to ask so he was mostly winging it. "That if you mix soda and Pop rocks it will explode?"

Oishi sweatdropped, unable to believe that that was actually Eiji's question. "Um . . . Yes."

"Really?" Eiji asked happily then sat back with a smile. "Cool."

Oishi smiled weakly at his boyfriend's action, but then turned back to the game. "Alright," Oishi said, looking around the circle as though he couldn't decide who to ask. Finally he picked on Fuji, just like he was supposed to. "Fuji. Truth or Dare?"

"Truth," Fuji said, smiling.

They hadn't come up with a truth for him to ask either so Oishi decided to use this chance to satisfy some of his curiosity. "What did Tezuka _really_ say when you told him you liked him?" Oishi had been curious about this for awhile. The way Tezuka told the story just didn't seem real.

Fuji laughed lightly, remembering. "He stared at me in shock for a long time without blinking then mumbled, "They were right," almost as if he couldn't believe it. And then he turned and walked away."

"That's not the way he tells it."

Fuji smiled. "Of course it's not. Kunimitsu wouldn't admit to having an unguarded moment in his life"

Ryoma leaned over closer to Momo and whispered, "Why is Fuji-senpai using Buchou's first name?"

Momo blinked at him, almost unable to believe Ryoma hadn't noticed. "They're together."

Ryoma blinked right back at him. "Together?" he echoed, not understanding.

"Yeah," Momo said, remembering who he was talking to and getting over his shock at Ryoma's obliviousness. "Didn't you know that?"

"You mean together as in . . . together?" Ryoma asked, looked shocked and making a rather vague motion to signify romantic coupledom.

Momo nodded. "Yeah."

Looking even more shocked, Ryoma's eyes widened. "Guys can do that?"

"Is everything alright over there?" Fuji asked and Ryoma and Momo turned to find Fuji watching them with some amusement.

Still shocked over what he had just learned, Ryoma just stared at the older boy.

"I'm just explaining to Echizen that guys can be together just like girls and guys can," Momo said, sticking a casual thumb in Ryoma's direction.

"Ochibi didn't know that?" Eiji asked, looking at the younger boy curiously. Not that he hadn't expected this. Ryoma could be really dense. Ryoma turned to Eiji and wordlessly shook his head.

"Eiji-senpai and Oishi-senpai are together like that too," Momo told Ryoma casually, "And so are Inui-senpai and the Mamushi."

Kaidoh hissed angrily at Momo for the name, a little pink at the mention of his relationship.

"So _everyone_'s like that?" Ryoma asked, still looking shocked.

"It's called being gay and no. I'm not," Momo said and then ignored Eiji as the older boy tried to stifle his giggles. He didn't know what Eiji was laughing about anyways. "And neither is Kawamura-senpai, I don't think."

Kawamura laughed weakly, uncomfortable with the topic. "No. You're right. I'm not."

Ryoma looked like he would need a moment to fit this all into his worldview.

"Ochibi's okay with that, isn't he?" Eiji asked, still looking at the younger boy curiously.

"What?" Ryoma asked blankly. Then the question registered. "Oh, um. Yeah. It's fine."

Meanwhile, Fuji turned back to the carefully planned game. "Taka-san," he chose. The other boy didn't know it but he had been put into the script as well. "Truth or Dare?"

Knowing that whatever dare Fuji came up with would be bad, Kawamura said, "Truth." Hopefully the truth wouldn't turn out to be just as bad.

Fuji smiled. He'd hoped Kawamura would choose that. "Can you honestly say that you have never had a homosexual thought regarding Akutsu in your life?"

Kawmura abruptly blushed. "Um . . . what?"

"Answer the question, Taka-san."

Turning away from Ryoma, Eiji smiled eagerly and leaned forward to hear, while Oishi looked embarrassed for Kawamura and Ryoma just looked faintly disturbed. Momo laughed at Ryoma's expression and pounded him on the back. Rocked forward by the hit, Ryoma turned to Momo with a glare.

"I . . . I . . ." Kawamura stuttered before finally saying, "No! Never!"

"Are you sure?" Fuji questioned.

"Yes! He's just a friend! I don't think of him like that, I swear!"

Inui smiled, sensing a victim. "There is an 88 percent chance that you are lying."

"No! I swear! I don't!" Kawamura waved his hands in the air frantically to ward off the other boy, desperate for them to believe him.

Inui still smiled and held out a cup. It didn't really matter if Kawamura really was telling the truth or not. They had planned for Kawamura to be the first one to drink the juice and so he would regardless of his answer. "Drink up."

"I . . ." Kawamura quieted, but took the cup and looked into it dubiously. Inside the small paper cup, the juice bubbled once, looking like black tar. Kawamura gulped. But then, taking a deep breath to prepare himself, he tossed the drink back. Immediately, he fell back unconscious, the cup dropping from lifeless fingers to roll across the floor, hitting the foot of the couch.

Eiji shook his head regretfully, just like he was supposed to. "Poor Kawamura. He should've told the truth."

"Well, seeing as Taka-san can't take his turn, I suppose it's my turn again," Fuji said almost cheerfully. Everything was going according to plan, why wouldn't Fuji be cheerful?

Everyone but Inui gulped nervously, eyeing the downed Kawamura and then Fuji. Eiji and Oishi had to fake being nervous, but Kaidoh really was. They had decided he would be next and he didn't know what Fuji had planned for him.

"Kaidoh," Fuji finally said after a moment of faked deliberation.

Kaidoh gulped again, beginning to sweat.

"Truth or Dare?" Fuji asked.

"Uh," Kaidoh acted like he was undecided, looking at Fuji and then around the circle frantically for some kind of answer. Everybody watched him evenly, Eiji acting like he was eagerly waiting for his answer, and Momo obviously truly looking forward to his embarrassment. "Truth," he finally said.

"Aw," Eiji complained, even though he knew that was what Kaidoh was going to say, "Somebody pick Dare already."

Fuji smiled and Kaidoh regretted ever becoming part of their plans. "Tell us. What was your first thought when you and Inui first had sex?"

Face immediately going dark red, Kaidoh gaped wordlessly at his senpai, absolutely horrified. "What?" he asked. He glanced quickly at Inui, who was looking almost embarrassed as well. There was no way he was answering that. He didn't care about the script. He turned back to Fuji. "Can I pick dare?" he asked almost desperately.

Fuji nodded agreeably enough, not mad that he was changing the script, and said his dare. "I dare you to give Inui a lap dance right here, right now.

Kaidoh, if anything, only got redder and a quick glance at Inui showed him looking like for once he might blush. Kaidoh didn't want to do that either!

"Give me the juice," Kaidoh said.

Looking faintly relieved, Inui passed him a cup and Kaidoh immediately downed it, falling back into welcome unconsciousness. It was better than staying awake.

"Hm," Fuji frowned, looking puzzled, "I didn't think that dare was too bad. I wonder why he did that."

Everyone but Inui exchanged a rather speaking looking. If that wasn't 'too bad' what was? Eiji had to hold back his giggles though as he acted nervous. This was so much fun! He _liked_ being sneaky.

"Well, I suppose it's my turn again," Fuji said and everyone but Inui started to look scared again, either for fake or real. "Hmm," Fuji looked around the circle as though his choice hadn't already been decided. "Momo," he finally said. They had stalled long enough and it was time to get down to business. "Truth or Dare?"

Momo sweated, unsure of what to pick. He didn't want to pick Truth but he didn't want to pick Dare either. Who knew what Fuji might make him do!

"Dare," he finally said, choosing to be brave.

Fuji smiled. "I dare you to kiss, Echizen."

Which wasn't that bad considering, but still. "I can't do that!" Momo squawked.

He'd expected that too. Biting back on a smile, Fuji tilted his head curiously. "Why not?"

"It's Echizen!" Momo said as if that explained everything. To him it did.

At this, Ryoma frowned. What did that mean? Why didn't Momo want to kiss him? Was there something wrong with him or something? Not that Ryoma _wanted_ Momo to kiss him, but he didn't think Momo should be so opposed to the idea just because it was him.

"So?" Eiji said, now ad-libbing.

"So?" Momo said, "So it's Echizen. He's my best friend! And he's a guy! You just don't kiss your best guy friend. Especially since he's a guy."

"Interesting," Inui said, getting out his notebook to note this down. "You are rather focused on gender."

"Because I'm straight!" Momo said.

"Idiot," Ryoma muttered, "Kissing me doesn't make you any less straight." Saying this and helping their plan along a lot more than Fuji had expected Ryoma to.

"I'd be kissing a guy," Momo said, turning to him to explain, "I don't care what anybody says, in my book that's a little gay."

"You were just fine with the idea of an all guy Truth or Dare game before," Fuji said mildly. "You even mentioned kissing Kaidoh. Why is it that kissing Echizen is any different?"

"Yeah, Momo-senpai," Ryoma said, looking up at him with a frown, "Why is it?"

Momo looked down at him with a frown, a little confused by Ryoma's insistence, "Do you _want_ me to kiss you or something?"

"No," Ryoma said, "I just think you're being stupid about this. It's not that big of a deal."

"Yes it is! I'd be kissing you. That's not—mmph!"

Finally getting tired of Momo 's protests, Ryoma sighed and pulled Momo down, cutting him off by planting his mouth on his. It wasn't that bad. In fact it was kind of nice. Wrapping an arm around Momo's neck, Ryoma pulled him down further and deepened the kiss. Momo didn't complain, leaning forward willing.

Looking at Momo and Ryoma with a raised brow, Eiji turned to Oishi and smiled, pleased with their work, thinking this would be the end. Oishi politely turned his head away from the two younger boys and coughed. Fuji kept watching, a pleased smile on his face, and Inui noted down their success in his notebook.

Finally Momo and Ryoma broke away from each other. Ryoma smirked and pushed Momo off of him. It took a moment for Momo to catch up with what was happening, but then he turned to Ryoma and cried, "What'd you do that for?!"

Ryoma shrugged. "It got you to shut up, didn't it? And now it's your turn. Go."

Momo grumbled but turned back to the game. "You little brat."

The others thought that this would be it. That this would be the thing that made Momo and Ryoma realize their feeling s for each other. But instead they seemed to go on like nothing had happened.

The game continued and with each interaction between the two Fuji's pleased smile dropped. Nothing had changed.

Finally it came to be Fuji's turn again and he called on Ryoma. The script was now out the window but that didn't mean the plan was over. "Echizen. Truth or Dare?"

"Dare," Ryoma said, long since starting to look bored with the game.

"I dare you to kiss Momo," Fuji said.

At that, Ryoma gave him a weird look. It wasn't like Fuji to repeat himself. But then Ryoma turned to Momo, regarding the older boy curiously, and finally shrugged.

"What?!" Momo said, looking at Fuji in shock, and then turned to Ryoma. Seeing Ryoma look at him then shrug, apparently willing and not bothered by the dare, he sputtered. "Ech – Echizen! You can't—

He wasn't able to finish, Ryoma dragging his head down and cutting him off a second time with his mouth. This time Momo yanked himself away hurriedly after a barely there brush of lips.

"Stop doing that!" Momo cried, looking embarrassed as he wiped at his mouth.

Ryoma smirked at his reaction, amused, but Fuji frowned. This wasn't going like he had planned. And they couldn't ask the two to kiss again without it being suspicious.

They weren't going to get together like this. Apparently they would need another plan.

An idea coming, Fuji smiled. He had just the thing.

* * *

TBC?

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	4. Confusing Jealousy

Again. Thank you for all the reviews. And to Paffu: I would make a music video if I had any idea _how_ to make one. But I don't so I'm sorry. Maybe someday I'll learn. And to hakkaisensei: Are you serious? It would be _great_ if I could get someone to beta this fic. And sorry but this chapter is a little shorter than the previous ones. Hope you like it though.

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Chapter #4: Confusing Jealousy

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Feeling the rest of the team at his back, watching his every move, Eiji glared at Oishi. "Maybe if you weren't such a _mom_ I'd—

"Well maybe if you actually acted your _age_ I wouldn't have to mother you all the time," Oishi interrupted angrily, glaring back at Eiji. "Do you think I _like_ having a boyfriend who acts like he's five-years old? I feel like I'm your babysitter!"

Eiji reared back, insulted. "Uh!" For a moment he was at a loss of what to say but then he finally found words and snapped back, "Well if I'm such a _kid _then why are we even still together?"

"Habit?" Oishi suggested angrily.

They had to wait until Monday to start their new plan. The idea was simple—make Momo and Ryoma jealous. Of course, to do this they would need somebody to come onto both of the boys. This was a problem because Momo had just explained to Ryoma that the rest of the team was paired off. It would be suspicious if one of pairs were to suddenly start flirting with someone else. One of the couples would need to "break up".

They had quickly gone through their choices. Fuji was out as Tezuka would not be pleased to find him flirting with either of the younger boys and would be especially mad if he knew that it was all part of the plan. Add in the fact that there was only one of him and two of Momo and Ryoma and it was clear that he was not a good choice no matter how good of a flirt he was.

Inui was also out as the image of him coming onto either of the boys was just too strange and bizarre for words. And, since Inui was out, Kaidoh was also out, as it would be simpler if only one couple was needed to "break up". And, besides that, Kaidoh just plain refused to touch, be near, or even think about Momo in that way.

So that left Oishi and Eiji, Eiji being especially perfect as he already had a rather close relationship with both of the boys. And so it was decided, despite Oishi's protests, that Eiji would come onto Momo and Oishi would spend his time with Ryoma. The two of them would stage a public fight during morning practice, being careful to make sure it was loud enough and public enough that Momo and Ryoma were unable to miss it.

"Well I don't want anything to do with you anymore!" Eiji shouted at Oishi, sounding remarkably realistic

"And I do?" Oishi said, looking at Eiji as if he disgusted him. Eiji hadn't known Oishi was such a good actor.

"Good!" Eiji shouted, "Then we're through! Completely over!" he said, making a wide gesture. "Don't come near me again!" Still looking angry, he stomped off to Fuji's side. Getting there, Eiji threw Fuji a quick smile, looking momentarily cheerful, but then he went back to being angry, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring across the courts at Oishi. Oishi, meanwhile, had rolled his eyes, looking less than amused by Eiji's theatrics, and stomped over to the benches, which Momo and Ryoma quickly vacated as they tried to get out of his way.

Tezuka, having narrowed his eyes at the display, watched Oishi carefully as he grabbed his water bottle and angrily took a drink, and then turned to watch Eiji, who was still pouting furiously. Suspicious, he then turned to Fuji, who was also glaring across the courts at Oishi. Not finding anything in Fuji's expression to back up his suspicions Tezuka decided to put the matter aside for the moment. Fuji may have been a genius, but, sooner or later, Tezuka always seemed to be able to catch him in the act. Plus it was time for practice to start again. They'd been taking a break, but it was now over.

"Did you hear that?" Momo nearly whispered to Ryoma.

"Yeah," Ryoma said at a more normal level, raising a brow at Momo's hushed tone. "They had a fight. It happens."

"Not to them, it doesn't," Momo said, still whispering for some reason.

"They've fought before," Ryoma reminded him.

"Yeah, like, _once_," Momo whispered, trying to get Ryoma to see how bad this situation was. "What if they don't get back together this time? You heard what they said."

Ryoma frowned. He had heard what they'd said and they had sounded rather serious. Starting to doubt his own certainty that things were just fine, he finally said, "Well, it's not like we can do anything."

"Maybe we can ask Fuji-senpai," Momo suggested quietly. "I'm sure he'll know what we can do."

Ryoma just looked at him like he was crazy. "Yeah. You do that."

* * *

Momo frowned. "What do you mean you're not going to do anything?"

Fuji looked the same as always, smiling vaguely. "I mean just that. I'm not going to do anything."

Momo looked confused, not understanding. "But isn't Eiji-senpai your best friend?"

That made Fuji open his eyes, the vague smile still on his face now seeming almost evil. "I'm going to assume that you meant that in only the best way and aren't trying to tell me how to manage my friendships."

Momo winced and shrank back, just then realizing how bad that may have sounded. "No. No. I'm not. I didn't mean it like that. I'm sorry."

Fuji thankfully closed his eyes and smiled. "Good."

Momo looked back up. "But you really aren't going to do anything?"

"No," Fuji said simply. "I'm not."

Momo figured he would get the same bad reaction as the best friend question if he were to ask Fuji why so he didn't.

"Now if you'll excuse me," Fuji said politely, "I'm afraid I have to get to class." And Fuji stepped around Momo and continued on his way.

* * *

"So he's not going to do anything," Momo finished telling Ryoma what had happened in the hallway. It was lunch and the two were seated under their tree, open lunches in their lap.

Ryoma chewed, not looking that interested in Momo's tale. Swallowing what was in his mouth, he looked up at the older boy. "And let me guess. You want to come up with your own plan to help them out."

Momo smiled brightly and nodded. "Yeah!"

Ryoma's gaze didn't waver as he continued to guess. "And you want me to help."

"Well . . . yeah." Momo said less brightly, scratching the back of his neck, "You kinda have to. I can't do this by myself."

His gaze not moving from Momo's face, Ryoma stuck another bit of sushi in his mouth and chewed silently as Momo waited for his answer. Finally Ryoma swallowed and said bluntly, "No."

"What? Oh come _on_, Echizen. Would it kill you to help out?"

"This time—yes," Ryoma said bluntly, "Or have you not thought about what Fuji-senpai will do to you when he figures out your plan? He obviously doesn't want to help them for a reason."

"So?" Momo said, showing remarkable stupidity, "We'll just have to make sure that he doesn't find out." And the sad thing was, Momo actually seemed serious.

Obviously Momo had lost what little brains he had. "You idiot," Ryoma said, seeming disgusted by Momo's stupidity. "This is _Fuji-senpai._ You want to try and trick Fuji-senpai?"

"Well, okay," Momo allowed. "It _will_ be kinda hard."

"Only kind of?" Ryoma said, staring at Momo in disbelief. "This is _Fuji-senpai_," he repeated.

"But I have a _plan_," Momo said, leaning forward eagerly with bright eyes.

"Oh God." Ryoma closed his eyes.

"And it's a _good_ plan," Momo said, not deterred by Ryoma's reaction..

Ryoma, still with his eyes closed, decided to give Momo a chance. "Just tell me it has nothing to do with a closet."

"Um . . ." At that, Momo had to sit back. "How'd you know?" he asked.

Ryoma opened his eyes, staring at Momo in disbelief. "A closet?"

"Well, it _works_, doesn't it?" Momo said defensively.

Ryoma closed his eyes again and rubbed his brow wearily while shaking his head, despairing of Momo ever growing a brain.

"Well fine then," Momo said angrily, "If you're so smart, what would you do?"

"Not lock them in a closet," Ryoma said flatly, opening his eyes and turning back to Momo.

"I just wanted them to start talking to each other again," Momo said, trying to explain his thinking.

"There are other ways to do that, you idiot," Ryoma told him.

Deciding to call his bluff, Momo crossed his arms over his chest and said smugly, "Oh yeah. How?"

"I don't know," Ryoma said, shrugging. "Make them jealous?" he suggested, just throwing out the first thing that popped into his head.

Momo's mouth fell open in shock and amazement as it all became so clear to him. "You're a genius! We'll do that!"

Ryoma looked confused. "Make them jealous?" Then he seemed to get what Momo wanted him to do and his eyes went wide as he shook his head in denial. "No," he said. "No."

"Yeah!" Momo said, still excited about the idea. "We'll make them jealous!" A thought coming, he frowned. "But who'll do who?"

"I'm not doing anything," Ryoma said, still shaking his head. Quickly he started to wrap up his lunch and get to his feet, but Momo pulled him down to the ground before he could get anywhere.

"No way," Momo said, holding him down, "There's no way you're getting out of this. It was your idea so you have to do it."

"I didn't actually _mean_ it!"

"It doesn't matter," Momo said. "We're doing it. You get Oishi-senpai," Momo pointing at Ryoma then at himself, "I'll take Eiji-senpai."

"No!" Ryoma said, struggling to free himself from Momo's grip.

"Yes!" Momo said, only holding onto Ryoma all the harder.

"No!" Ryoma said.

"Yes!" Momo said.

"No!"

* * *

Ryoma scowled and crossed his arms over his chest. It was time for afternoon practice and he was waiting for Oishi and Eiji to appear. Momo had eventually won and so Ryoma had no choice. He would have to flirt with Oishi.

He didn't _want_ to flirt with Oishi! He didn't want to flirt with anyone! He didn't even know _how_.

Momo said to be nice, make a lot of eye-contact, touch him a lot, try not to be himself too much.

Ryoma had scowled at that last one. What was wrong with being himself? Hearing that question, Momo had just laughed and patted him on the head like he was a some sort of cute dog which had only made Ryoma all the angrier.

"There," Momo whispered, nudging him in the side with an elbow. "They're here." Letting his hands drop back down to his sides, Ryoma scowled up at Momo for the nudge, but turned to where Oishi and Eiji were coming their way, fighting with each other quietly but heatedly.

Taking a deep breath, Ryoma prepared himself for embarrassment. Here went nothing.

* * *

"You ready?" Eiji asked, looking over at Oishi. The two were in the clubhouse getting ready for both practice and yet another act of their fight.

Standing up from tying his shoes, Oishi looked down and took a deep breath, steeling himself, then looked up at Eiji and nodded decisively.

"Alright!" But before they could leave, Eiji had to do one thing. He threw his arms around Oishi in a quick hug, whispering in his ear, "Love you," and letting go before Oishi even knew what was happening.

Oishi just smiled back at him. "You too."

Eiji grinned at him but then turned serious and got an angry look on his face. "I thought I told you I wanted nothing to do with you!" he snapped angrily, turning for the door and pushing his way outside.

Oishi's features twisted up in cold fury. "And that's fine with me," he snarled, following behind the other boy. "You're such an idiot I guess you just forgot that Fuji and Tezuka eat at the same table."

"I didn't forget," Eiji growled, glaring at Oishi as they made their way across the courts to where Momo and Ryoma stood. "I just thought you would be smart enough to stay _away_."

"Why should _I_ have to be the one to stay away?" Oishi asked angrily, "You're the one who's too childish to be at the same table as me."

"Oh, and _you_ want to be near me so much? You're just as childish as me."

"No one is as childish as you. I've known newborns with more maturity."

"Well at least I won't have _wrinkles_ by the time I'm twenty. You're such an old lady."

"Hey. Hey, man. Don't fight." Momo said. They'd gotten to where Momo and Ryoma stood.

"Well, maybe if this _moron_ over here didn't— Eiji started, glaring at Oishi.

Oishi interrupted before Eiji could finish. "Moron?" he repeated disbelievingly, "And _which_ one of us is the one usually begging for homework help?"

"Do you see what I have to deal with?" Eiji asked Momo. "He's just so _hard_," Eiji whined, throwing himself at Momo, wrapping his arms around his neck and burying his nose in Momo's neck.

Momo got an interesting look on his face. "Erm."

Ryoma smirked at his predicament. But then Oishi turned to him and got in much too close, putting a hand on the small of his back as Oishi said gently, "Echizen, you understand what it's like don't you?"

A little uncomfortable with him so close, Ryoma blinked up at him. "What what's like?"

"To deal with someone who's so immature," Oishi said, but then turned to Momo. "No offense Momo."

Eiji still attached to his neck, Momo smiled weakly and waved a hand. "None taken."

Oishi turned back to Ryoma. "Don't you?"

"Ah," Ryoma said, looking at Momo to see how he should answer this. Momo nodded at him, eyes wide in encouragement as he mouthed the word, "Flirt." Hating this but deciding to just get it over with, Ryoma turned back to Oishi with a smile. "I do."

"Isn't it hard?" Oishi asked, now rubbing Ryoma's back in slow circles as he sought some understanding.

Still with that smile on his face, Ryoma nodded and put a hand on Oishi's arm to squeeze gently. "Very."

Not understanding why Ryoma was acting this way, Oishi almost looked confused, but quickly turned that look into a smile at his actions instead.

In response to this, Eiji raised his head out of Momo's neck and frowned at the two. Turning to Momo he said seriously, "They just don't understand."

"No," Momo said softly, smiling at him very gently as he put a hand on Eiji's back. "I do, though."

A little weirded out by Momo's reaction, Eiji still smiled. "I thought you would. That's why I like you so much." He turned back to give Oishi an evil look. "And why I hate him."

"I understand," Momo said gently, softly patting Eiji's back.

Seeing this, Oishi frowned. What was Momo doing? He wasn't supposed to do that. Eiji was supposed to hang on him and Momo was supposed to try to get away. Wasn't he supposed to think he was straight?

"Oishi-senpai," Ryoma said, tugging on his sleeve to bring his attention back to the younger boy, "It's time for practice. Do you want to play a match with me?"

Still somewhat distracted by Eiji and Momo but remembering his job, Oishi nodded and followed Ryoma over to the courts to warm up.

* * *

Momo and Ryoma kept Eiji and Oishi busy throughout practice. Oishi couldn't look away for a second without Eiji somehow finding a way into Momo's arms. And it seemed like Ryoma was always right there next to Oishi, barely any room between the two of them.

Eiji and Oishi were confused. They hadn't expected Momo and Ryoma to act this way. They'd expected blushes and protests of being straight, Momo trying to pry Eiji off of him and Ryoma carefully keeping a least a foot of distance between him and everybody else. But the loud Momo was being surprisingly gentle and soft and the aloof Ryoma was suddenly very prone to touching. Eiji and Oishi didn't know what was going on, but they didn't like it.

Oishi wanted Eiji to stay away from Momo and Eiji suddenly wasn't too keen on the idea of Oishi and Ryoma spending time together either. What if Momo actually _liked_ Eiji? Or worse, what if Ryoma actually liked Oishi? Didn't those two like _each other_? They hadn't read all the signs wrong had they? Momo and Ryoma certainly didn't seem very jealous to see the other involved with somebody else.

"This isn't working," Eiji whispered to Fuji two days later. Two days of Momo and Ryoma acting strange. Two days of having to watch the normally cold Ryoma basically throw himself at Oishi. Eiji couldn't take it anymore!

"No," Fuji said, frowning. "Those two are acting strange."

"I'll say!" Eiji said, "Ochibi won't stop flirting with Oishi!"

Fuji smiled at his friend. "Jealous?"

"Yeah!" Eji wouldn't deny it. He was. "Can't me and Oishi make up already? I don't want Ochibi anywhere near Oishi anymore!"

"Very well," Fuji relented. "We can start on our new plan tomorrow."

TBC?


	5. Written With Love

Wow. I'm inspired this weekend. Again thank you for all the reviews. And to kage-nedo: You're right. That was a little confusing. I fixed it. Hope you guys like this chapter too. I think it's a little more serious then the other ones.

* * *

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Chapter #5: Written With Love

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_Echizen,_

_This is going to sound weird, I know. Especially since I just told you that I wasn't gay. But I was just hiding my feelings. I didn't want you to know. I didn't want anyone to know. But I can't live like that anymore. I love you. There I said it. Wrote it. Whatever. Now I just have to wait for your reaction. I hope it's good. I really do love you. I think, ever since the day I first met you, looking into your eyes I knew there was something special about you. Please don't hate me. Meet me under our tree at lunch. We need to talk._

_--Momo_

Ryoma stared at the note in his hand. It had fallen out of his locker when he had opened the door to get out a book, falling to the floor for him to pick up and read.

What kind of sick joke was this? Momo obviously hadn't written it. So who had?

He'd have to find out. He'd go see Momo right now.

The bell rang, signaling class was about to start.

Or later. Later was good too. He'd find out later.

Hurriedly, Ryoma shoved the note in his pocket and grabbed the book he'd been looking for, slamming his locker shut and hurrying off to class.

* * *

_Momo-senpai,_

_I know I seem cold most of the time and I know I don't always show you that I care. But I do care. I care a lot. Maybe too much. I hadn't known it was okay to feel this way, but I've just recently learned that it's maybe not normal, but it's okay for two guys to like each other. And I know you said you weren't like that, but I wanted to tell you anyways. I love you. I'm almost positive I do. I've certainly never felt this way about anyone else. Please don't be mad. Meet me under our tree at lunch. We need to talk._

_--Echizen_

Stunned and confused, Momo stared at the note in his hand. He'd been opening his locker to put away a book he didn't need and this note had fallen out, fluttering down to the floor before he could catch it. Bending over, he had picked it up and turned it over to read.

This could not be Ryoma's work. He didn't think the brat was even capable loving anything other than tennis and his cat.

So who wrote this? He'd have to find out. He'd go see Ryoma right now.

The bell rang, signaling class was about to start.

But that could wait. He'd see Ryoma after class, maybe at lunch. Yeah, he'd see Ryoma at lunch.

Shoving the note in his pocket, Momo slammed his locker shut and turned to hurry off to class. The note was promptly forgotten.

* * *

Walking toward his and Momo's normal spot under the tree, Ryoma reread the note he had gotten that morning. It was in Momo's handwriting. It even sounded a little bit like the other boy. But it couldn't really be from Momo. Could it?

No.

Ryoma would show Momo the note and Momo would laugh it off. Would say it was just some weirdo with a pen and his locker number having fun with him. Momo liked girls, not guys. He'd told Ryoma that before.

But the more Ryoma read it the more he was unsure. He didn't want to be wrong and have Momo actually mean it. That would just be weird and uncomfortable. And another smaller part of him couldn't help but think, he didn't want Momo to laugh it off either. He wanted it to be true.

Ryoma promptly took that thought and threw it out the window. It had never happened.

Maybe he'd just see how Momo acted during lunch. See if he brought the subject up or not.

Yeah. That's what he'd do. He'd wait and see how things went.

"Echizen!"

Startled out of his thoughts, Ryoma looked up sharply to find that he had almost walked by their usual tree. Momo sat on the ground under the tree, waving a hand in the air and grinning.

Well he didn't look nervous.

Hastily shoving the note back in his pocket, Ryoma turned to head back in the direction of the tree.

"What's got you so distracted?" Momo asked with a grin as Ryoma sat down next to him. "You walked right by me. Is it a girl?"

Keeping his head down, Ryoma shook his head and busied himself with taking out his lunch and unwrapping it.

"Oh I know," Momo said, nodding his head with a knowing smile, "Is it tennis? Man, that's just like you."

Ryoma barely spared him a glare, trying to act normal but feeling strangely nervous. It was weird. He was never this nervous around Momo. What was there to be nervous about? It was _Momo_. He wasn't even acting all that different. Obviously the letter had just been somebody's idea of a joke.

Apparently understanding that Ryoma wasn't in a talkative mood, Momo went on to tell him all about some accident that had happened during science class. One of the beakers had blown up or something. Ryoma wasn't really paying attention. He was still trying to understand this strange nervousness and the feeling of . . . disappointment?

He was disappointed? Why?

He didn't actually _want_ Momo to like him did he? Ryoma didn't think so but then he'd never even thought of Momo in that way. Momo was just Momo. The guy he ate with and talked with and played video games with.

No. Obviously that was just anger at whoever had played the joke on him.

Yeah. That was it. He was angry.

He'd have to find out who wrote that letter and get back at them somehow. Maybe tie them to a chair in the middle of the tennis court and practice his serve on them. That would make him feel better.

But who was it?

* * *

Watching the two boys from a tree some distance away, Eiji leaned closer to Fuji and whispered. "They're not doing anything. Did they get the letters?"

Inui nodded, adjusting his glasses. "Both received their letters at approximately 8: 13 AM, right on schedule."

"Then why aren't they doing anything?" Eiji asked.

Kaidoh rolled his eyes and sat back against the tree, eating his lunch. Oishi looked up from his own lunch to say, "Maybe they're too embarrassed?"

Fuji shook his head, watching the two boys over by the other tree closely. "No. I don't think that's it. Inui." Fuji turned to the other boy. "When you were watching them did you notice if they seemed to believe the letters?"

Inui nodded calmly. "Both seemed confused by the letters but like they were going to talk to the other at the soonest convenience. I do believe, though, that there is a 56 percent probability that Momo has forgotten."

"I bet that's what happened," Oishi said, nodding. "I mean, look. Echizen looks really uncomfortable. Maybe he's just waiting for Momo to bring the letter up himself."

Fuji smiled. "Well if that's the case then I suppose another letter is in order, correct?"

"But wouldn't that be a little suspicious?" Eiji asked. "I mean, it would be a little weird, wouldn't it?"

Taking out a notebook and pen from his backpack, Fuji shook his head. "Not if we word it correctly."

* * *

One hand in his pocket, Momo swung the empty container of his lunch back and forth with his other as he walked back to his locker. Ryoma had been acting weird at lunch and Momo didn't understand it, but then Momo didn't understand Ryoma a lot of the time. He swore that kid needed to come with a manual or something. Something to tell him what was okay to do and what was not okay. Obviously Momo had done something that was not okay. Now he just had to figure out what that something was.

Obviously it wasn't too bad as Ryoma had still eaten lunch with him instead of abandoning him for the roof, but that still left over a million little things that Momo could have done to upset the younger boy sometime between morning practice and lunch.

Momo hadn't even _seen_ Ryoma between morning practice and lunch. What could he have possibly done?

Maybe one of Ryoma's classmates had said something and it wasn't actually Momo's fault?

Oh well, he'd figure it out. Either that or Ryoma would get over it. He always did.

Getting to his locker, Momo spun the lock in his combination and swung open the door. As always his locker was a mess, books crammed into it at odd angles and loose paper nearly falling out. A smaller sheet of paper came apart form the mess and floated down to the floor and Momo sighed irritably.

"Man. . ." Still he bent over to pick it up, turning it over curiously to see what it was for anyways.

_Momo-senpai,_

_I guess you didn't get my first letter as you didn't bring it up at lunch. I couldn't bring it up myself as I wasn't sure what to say. What could I have said? It's hard enough writing it without having to say it aloud to someone who doesn't know. But, either way, I'm writing to you again to tell you that I love you. I really do. Can you meet me after practice? We really need to talk._

_--Echizen_

Momo blinked. Oh yeah. He'd gotten a letter that morning, hadn't he? And hadn't he pocketed it?

Hurriedly, Momo dug in his pockets to see if he could maybe find the letter again.

Candy wrapper? No. That girl from his English class's phone number? (What was her name again?) No. A piece of gum? No. McDonald's receipt? No.

Ah, there it was. Echizen's fake love letter. It was all crumbled up so Momo put it against the cold metal of the lockers and tried to straighten it out. Rereading it again, Momo frowned and then compared it to the letter he had just received. Both were in Ryoma's neat handwriting, but the second one didn't sound like the boy at all, never mind the fact that Ryoma would never give him a love letter to begin with.

Still . . . it _would_ explain Ryoma's odd behavior at lunch. Maybe the brat really had sent him the letters.

Momo couldn't even finish that thought without laughing. There was just no way.

Ryoma was in love with two things: tennis and his cat, maybe Ponta coming in as a close third. Momo couldn't even begin to hope to come even close to one of those three things.

Not that Momo wanted to, Momo hurried to assure himself. He was straight after all. Very straight. He liked the ladies and the ladies liked him. Never mind the fact that he'd never actually had a girlfriend. He was busy. He definitely wasn't in love with his best friend. That would just be weird and wrong.

Momo was straight. He didn't know what he was thinking, thinking about Ryoma liking him. His brain was just going off in weird and wrong directions today. He'd never even thought about Ryoma like that. Ryoma was just his best friend, bratty and cocky and maybe a little cute but only in the very straightest sense of the word.

Momo wasn't gay. He definitely didn't want these letters to be true. He'd show them to Ryoma at practice and Ryoma would call him an idiot and everything would be back to normal.

Yeah. Everything would be back to normal.

* * *

"Look. Momo seems really uncomfortable," Eiji whispered to Oishi, the two standing in the clubhouse before practice. "You think the second letter worked?"

Oishi frowned, watching his younger teammate. Momo kept glancing around nervously, looking for who knows what. He'd turn to get something out of his locker then suddenly stop and look over his shoulder suspiciously. "I don't know. Should he be acting that nervously?"

Eiji shrugged. He didn't know either.

Momo took off his shirt and then turned to his locker to get out the shirt he usually wore at practice. Kaidoh brushed by him and Momo nearly jumped out of his skin, whipping around to face the other boy. Finding that it was only Kaidoh, his eyes narrowed.

"Mamushi," he said lowly.

Kaidoh, having stopped to look on in confusion as Momo freaked out, hissed at him.

Glaring at the other boy suspiciously, Momo slowly turned back to his locker to change and Kaidoh went on his way, crisis averted. And that was when Ryoma entered the room.

Walking over to his locker, three lockers down from Momo with nobody in between to block their view of the other, Ryoma threw his bag down on the bench and sat down to take off his shoes.

Seeing him, Momo froze, "Ech – Echizen," he stuttered.

Ryoma looked up at him, large golden eyes blinking up at him curiously.

Momo had always noticed that Ryoma had nice eyes, but only in a very detached non-caring manner. Yeah. Non-caring. That's it. Momo began to laugh nervously for no apparent reason, putting a hand behind his head. "Ah heh heh heh."

Ryoma just looked at him for a long moment then turned away, shaking his head. "Momo-senpai is weird."

At that, Momo blinked and stopped laughing, letting his arm drop down to his side and blinking down at Ryoma dazedly. What was he thinking? He turned back to his locker.

Watching this, Eiji turned to Oishi with a raised brow as if to ask, "And what the hell was that?"

Looking clueless but worried, Oishi shrugged, just as lost as Eiji.

* * *

Later, after practice, Momo approached Ryoma.

"Hey, Echizen?" he asked, sounding almost nervous for some reason.

Having been stuffing the last of his stuff back into his locker, Ryoma turned to him questioningly. "Yeah?"

"Did you . . ." Momo started hesitantly. Rubbing the back of his neck nervously, he looked down at the ground then back up again. "Did you get any weird letters today?"

Oh. That. Getting nervous himself, Ryoma looked around the clubhouse. Everyone had already vacated the area, leaving Ryoma and Momo the only two left inside. Looking down at the ground and adjusting his cap on his head, Ryoma nodded.

Momo looked almost relieved and let out the breath he'd been holding. "So you did too? Good. I thought it was just me."

At that, Ryoma looked up, confused. "You got one too?"

"I got two," Momo said, "Both saying they were from you. I mean, I didn't think they actually were from you—why would you send me a love letter?—but I just wanted to check and make sure, you know? Not that I actually think you're in love with me or anything just that—"

Ryoma cut him off irritably, holding out a hand. "Can I see?"

Interrupted mid-flow, Momo wasn't the quickest in handing him the letter. "Oh, um. Sure," Momo said, moving to his backpack and rummaging around in the pockets before finally taking out a crumpled bit of paper. "Here," he said, handing it to Ryoma.

Snatching it out of his hands, Ryoma quickly read what he had supposedly wrote. At the end he looked disgusted. "Why would I send you something this sappy?"

"Hell if I know," Momo said but then looked curious. "Hey. Can I see what I wrote?"

Without a word, Ryoma turned to his backpack and got out the requested note, handing it to Momo.

"Wow," Momo said, quickly reading the letter. "This doesn't sound like me at all."

Ryoma was starting to feel a little foolish for even half-believing the letter, but he couldn't let Momo think that he'd believed it either. "Neither do these," he said, waving Momo's letters in the air.

"Who do you think sent them?" Momo asked curiously.

Ryoma shrugged.

"Actually, no," Momo said, a thought coming, "I think I wanna know _why_ they sent them more."

Ryoma shrugged again. "Does it matter?" he asked, walking over to throw the letters he held in the trash.

It was weird but Momo was almost sad to see them go, but he still followed Ryoma's example and threw the letter he had in the trash. "Don't you want to know who's crazy enough to think we should be together?"

Walking back to pick up his backpack, getting ready to go, Ryoma stopped, blinking over at Momo in confusion. "Somebody thinks we should be together?"

Raising a brow, Momo looked at him like he was stupid. "Um. Remember the notes? You only threw them away like ten seconds ago. Don't tell me you've forgotten them already."

That made Ryoma irritated and he glared at Momo. "No. I remember the notes. I just don't see how that automatically means somebody is out to stick us together."

"Well why else would somebody write them?" Momo said.

Now it was Ryoma's turn to look at Momo as if he were stupid. "A joke?"

Momo frowned. "That would be going through a lot of trouble for something where he wouldn't even be able to see the results."

"Unless they're spying on us," Ryoma said quietly, just then realizing that somebody could be watching. Momo and Ryoma looked at each other and in silent agreement the two of them turned in the direction of the door. Slowly, Momo reached out for the knob on the door, slowly turning it only to pause at the last second and throw the door open wide.

Nobody was there. He quickly poked his head out and looked around, but still nobody was there. Huh.

He turned back to Ryoma and shrugged. "I guess we were just being paranoid."

* * *

"Kikumaru-senpai, you're stepping on me."

"Fuji, get your elbow out of my face."

"Inui. Oh, oh. Ow. _Ow_. Stop moving."

"Kaidoh. I can't move. Move back a bit."

"Shh! They might hear!"

"No seriously, Inui. _Ow_. Stop moving!"

"Be quiet!" Fuji hissed and pressed back further.

"Ow! Please stop that!" Oishi complained.

Eiji, Oishi, Fuji, Kaidoh, and Inui were all scrunched up the best they could be in the small space provided between the clubhouse and the bleachers. They'd been listening to Momo and Ryoma's conversation at the door when they had heard the conversation go in a bad direction and had all rushed to hide.

"Is he gone? Eiji asked, squeezed somewhere between Oishi's back and Kaidoh's knee.

Fuji leaned out to check. "Yes. He's gone."

They all sighed in relief and slowly started extricating themselves from their hiding spot.

"That was close," Oishi said, straightening out his clothes.

"Yes. Too close," Inui said, adjusting his glasses on his face. They'd gotten screwed up somewhere in the pile.

"And they're still not together!" Eiji complained. "And I thought this one was _working_ too! Momo was acting all weird."

Fuji, meanwhile, was obviously feeling frustrated. "They _will_ be together," he said, looking scary. He turned back to look at his helpers. "We just have to try harder."

Oishi almost looked hesitant to ask, but someone had to. "Do you have another plan?"

Fuji nodded seriously.

"What is it?" Oishi asked, still looking hesitant.

Fuji told them and Oishi had to blink. Kaidoh looked unsure and Inui looked blank, but Eiji looked almost impressed. "Wow. That's really desperate."

TBC


	6. Sometimes In The Dark

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Once again, thank you for all the reviews. You're all so nice.

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Chapter #6: Sometimes in the Dark

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Momo had shoved his thoughts about Ryoma liking him deep into the back of his mind. They were at home there with the thoughts of his failing English grade and of his parent's obvious sex life. He would never think of them again.

And, as he would never think of them again, he would need to put up some protective measures. He would need to get himself a girlfriend.

Which was what he was currently doing.

Surrounded by a group of girls, Momo smiled down at them charmingly and they burst into giggles, whispering excitedly to each other.

Now Momo just had to choose one and make her his girlfriend and all thoughts like the ones he'd had yesterday would leave him entirely.

Just about to make a comment about how pretty one of the girls looked with her new haircut, Momo opened his mouth only to be interrupted by a loud voice.

"There he is! Get him!"

Having a strange feeling that the voice was talking about him—fueled mostly by the fact that the voice sounded strangely like Eiji—Momo's head shot up and he looked in that direction.

It _was_ Eiji and he was pointing in Momo's direction, seeming to be urging Inui and Kaidoh forward.

Inui had no expression like always, but Kaidoh looked almost like he was evilly enjoying himself. They were both coming straight at him.

He turned to the girls, throwing them a quick smile and saying, "I'm sorry, but I think I have to go. I forgot something in my locker that I need for class." And then he turned and began to hurriedly walk away. Behind him, the girls burst into another round of giggles.

Struggling to push through the crowd, Momo looked behind him to find that Inui and Kaidoh were only a few feet away. Beginning to sweat, instinctively knowing that whatever they wanted would not be good, Momo began to run, hindered by the crowds in the crowded hallway. People got in his way, he stepped on a number of feet, and everything just generally slowed him down. Inui and Kaidod easily caught up to him and grabbed onto his arms, one on each side.

"Hey! Wait!" Momo tried to struggle and pull away but Inui and Kaidoh held on tight. "What are you guys doing?!" Momo tried to ask, but they ignored him, skillfully leading him over to the side of the hallway.

"Hey! Come on!" Momo struggled as Inui and Kaidoh stopped before a janitor's closet. Opening the door, Momo only had time for another, "Hey!" and then he was shoved inside, falling into the cleaning supplies as the door shut on him quickly, the sound of the lock clicking into place.

"Hey!" Momo cried again, getting to his feet and trying to open the door. It was locked from the outside. He turned to pounding his fists against the door. "Let me out! Hey! Let me out!" Nobody answered his cries and the pounding seemed to fall on deaf ears. "Mamushi!" he screamed as he continued his pounding. "I'll get you for this!"

* * *

Inui regarded his boyfriend with some amusement as they walked away from the closet. "You enjoyed that far too much."

Smirking and looking a little too pleased with himself, Kaidoh only nodded. He really had enjoyed that. A person didn't get many chances to throw someone they hated into a closet for an indeterminate amount of time and actually be thanked for it.

Still somewhat amused, Inui shook his head.

* * *

The strange feeling of being watched coming over him, Ryoma paused in the middle of the hallway and looked around suspiciously. Everybody was going about their business, totally ignoring him. But if they were ignoring him then why did he suddenly feel like he was being hunted?

"Echizen!" someone shouted and Ryoma turned in the direction of the voice to find Oishi and Fuji waving him over. Still strangely nervous, Ryoma approached cautiously. What were they doing in the first-year hall?

"Oishi-senpai. Fuji-senpai." Ryoma nodded at each boy in turn. "Did you need something?"

Fuji smiled warmly, beckoning him even closer. "We wanted to show you something."

His smile looking a little pasted on, Oishi nodded in agreement.

"What?" Ryoma asked, stepping a little closer against his better judgment and eyeing them suspiciously.

In answer the two of them took his arms, one on each side so that he was in between them, and started to lead him down the hallway.

"It's in the second-year hall," Fuji said, giving him another smile. "You have to come with us to see."

Oishi still said nothing, but smiled and nodded in agreement.

Now _knowing _something was wrong, Ryoma tried to protest, tugging futilely at their arms. "I have class in a few minutes. I need to get going."

"It'll only take a minute," Fuji assured him.

"But—

"Don't worry. You won't mss class," Fuji said soothingly, "And I just know you're really going to want to see this."

Ryoma shook his head, beginning to feel scared. They were acting really weirdly. He began to tug harder, wanting to get away. "No. That's okay. I can miss it. I don't mind."

Oishi and Fuji said nothing, continuing to lead him along.

"No, really Fuj-senpai. I don't think I want to see. And I have class." Ryoma stopped walking, attempting to stop whatever they were doing by the simple act of refusing to move. Undeterred, Oishi and Fuji simply started dragging him along.

A few minutes later, as they got to the quickly emptying second-year hall, they were still dragging him and he was still protesting.

"Oishi-senpai," Ryoma said, turning to the more motherly teen, knowing that if anybody would let him go it would be Oishi, "I really have to get to class. I don't want to see."

Smile still obviously pasted on, Oishi clearly hated what he was doing, but that didn't stop him from dragging him on. "Fuji's right. It'll only take a minute," he said.

"But—

"Here," Fuji said, stopping in front of the janitor's closet.

Having been hanging between the two older teens, Ryoma now stood up straight on his two feet, some confusion replacing his fear. "A closet? What's so interesting in there?"

"Why don't you see?" Fuji said, unlocking and beginning to slowly open the door. Ryoma gave him a confused look, but still turned to see. And the door was barely open before Ryoma felt two hands on his back, shoving him inside

"Hey!" he cried, falling into something large and firm.

"Hey!" Momo's voice echoed. "Wait! Let me—

And then everything went dark.

* * *

Oishi turned to Fuji, clearly worried. "Are you sure this is okay? They'll be missing class."

"It'll be _fine_," Fuji assured him with a smile. "We'll just leave them in there for a while and when we get back they will have finally gotten over their nerves and told each other how they feel. Everything will be perfect."

Oishi still glanced back nervously in the direction of the closet. He wasn't so sure.

* * *

Momo jumped up in surprise when the door suddenly opened and something large and protesting was thrown into the closet.

"Hey!" Ryoma's voice cried.

"Hey!" Momo echoed. "Wait! Let me—" but the door had already been closed again. The large and protesting thing, most definitely a human, immediately tried the knob, twisting and turning it fruitlessly. Admitting defeat, the person began to curse softly and fluently under his—because it definitely sounded like a guy—breath.

"Echizen?" Momo guessed. He thought he'd seen the younger boy's face for that brief moment he'd seen the light.

The cursing subsided for a moment and then came a vaguely irritated but unsurprised, "Momo-senpai."

"They got you too, huh?"

Ryoma said nothing but the fact that he was there said all Momo needed for an answer.

"You know," Momo continued musingly, "It might just be me, but I think the senpai are acting kind of strange."

Momo couldn't see him, but Ryoma was giving him a very unimpressed look. That didn't dignify a response, but it would get one. A very sarcastic one. "No. You think?"

The sarcasm was lost on Momo. "Yeah," Momo said and Ryoma could feel him shift in the small closet, ending up giving them just the tiniest bit more room between the two of them. They were still so close Ryoma could feel Momo's body heat. "Eiji-senpai actually sent Inui-senpai and the Mamushi at me like _dogs_," Momo said, sounding bewildered by the strangeness of it.

Irritated, Ryoma said, "Oishi-senpai and Fuji-senpai said they had something to show me and dragged me over here." A pause then: "Literally."

Momo shifted again, only this time it brought them closer together. "Why do you think they did that?"

Ryoma tried to move away and didn't succeed, shifting even closer. Now he could feel the fabric of Momo's school uniform, their knees bumping into each other. This irritated him. "Why do they do anything?" he asked irritably, trying to shift away again.

Momo paused and actually thought about this. Ryoma was way too close to him and so most of Momo's mind was busy freaking out about that so this took some time. "Well they obviously wanted to get us in this closet for some reason," he finally said, brain too occupied to allow him to do anything other then state the freakin' obvious.

Ryoma sighed irritably and shook his head.

And, feeling the brush of Ryoma's hair against his neck, Momo stilled all movement and was glad for the dark so Ryoma couldn't see his sudden blush. He tried to shift away once more, desperate for a little space before his weird thoughts came back again. Momo felt Ryoma lean back, effectively granting him a tiny bit more space but not nearly enough. He could still feel Ryoma's body heat and their knees still bumped into each other. Leaning back himself, he leaned into what felt like a broom and accidentally knocked something off the shelf above him. Unable to see, he just felt the object hit his head with a dull bonk and tumble down his right side before landing solidly on his foot.

Momo paused, letting the pain come to him, and then said, very calmly, "Ow." That had really hurt.

Unseen in the dark, he heard Ryoma stifle a snicker.

"Shut up," he grumbled lowly, a little embarrassed, and was careful not to lean back again.

* * *

Eiji, Oishi and Fuji stood in front of the janitor's closet, Eiji with his ear pressed against the door, trying to see if he could hear anything. Passersby shot them strange looks and made a point of walking around them, obviously thinking them crazy for being so interested in the janitor's closet.

"I can't hear anything," Eiji complained.

"They've been in there all day," Oishi said, looking between the door and Fuji in concern. "Shouldn't we let them out?"

Fuji clearly thought about it, but then shook his head. "No. It's only lunch and they're stubborn. We should give them a little more time."

"But what about their classes?" Oishi asked, still worried. "They can't miss the whole _day_."

"They've already been marked absent," Fuji said, waving his concern off, "A couple more classes won't hurt anything."

Clearly thinking otherwise, Oishi looked back at the closet door with a concerned frown.

* * *

This had to be some new form of torture. Momo was positive. It had to be. Nothing could be this bad without somebody planning it.

He had thought he would be okay. He had thought he could scrunch up in a corner and ignore it. And he had. For the first few hours. But now it was hours later and it was getting a little hard to deal with.

He could feel Ryoma's body heat, gently radiating off the other boy. He could feel the brush of Ryoma's hair against his neck. Could hear Ryoma's soft breathing, their knees bumping into each other. Could do nothing but be aware of how close he was to his best friend. And he shouldn't like it this much. Or be so bothered by it.

He wanted to touch. He wanted to run away. Run far, _far_ away where these weird thoughts wouldn't bother him.

He was straight. He didn't like boys and he most definitely didn't like his best friend. This was _Ryoma_. The little brat he ate with, played tennis with, skipped practice with. This wasn't someone he should like that way. It wasn't right.

Oh, he had nothing against gays. Everyone on the team but him and possibly Ryoma was gay in some way, how _could_ he have a problem with them? They would kill him.

But that didn't mean he wanted to be gay himself. And he'd _never_ thought about guys that way before. Sure there was that couple times with Fuji, but in the right light Fuji looked so much like a girl that it didn't matter. And sure there were those couple times when he wondered. But that was all he did. Wonder. He didn't actually go out and find a guy to make out with.

So why was he thinking like this about Ryoma? He didn't _understand_. Why now? Why him?

Caught up in his despair, Momo groaned miserably.

"Momo-senpai?" came Ryoma's voice, sounding half out of it. Like he was tired and about to fall asleep.

"Yeah?" Momo answered, looking up and trying to make out Ryoma's silhouette in the darkness .

A pause, then: "Nothing."

Deciding not to ask, Momo let it go, turning to a different topic. "Hey. How long do you think we've been in here?"

Momo heard Ryoma huff irritably. "I don't know."

"You think they'll let us out for practice?" Momo asked.

"They'd better or Buchou will be mad," Ryoma answered.

Momo snickered. "Maybe he'll make them run laps."

"He'd make us run laps too, you idiot. We'd be missing practice."

That effectively shot down Momo's hopes for some revenge. "Oh, yeah . . ."

Momo heard Ryoma snort in derision and then felt him shift position. Now their thighs were pressed together. Momo stiffened, all his attention focused on that one point of contact so he missed Ryoma's next comment. Then Ryoma kicked him and he started paying attention again, looking up into the darkness. "What?" he asked blankly.

"I said, I'm hungry."

"Well what do you want me to do about it?" Momo asked irritably. "I'm hungry too. I bet we missed lunch."

Again, Ryoma sighed irritably and shifted his weight from foot to foot, causing their legs to rub against each other.

"Ah!" Momo said and jumped back. Knocking against the shelves, there was the sound of something teetering and Momo looked up only to get something heavy landing right on his face. "Shit!" he cursed, holding his nose. "_Fuck_, that hurt."

"What'd you do?" Ryoma asked, unable to see.

"Nothing," Momo said, poking at his nose gingerly to make sure it wasn't broken. It was fine. "Something fell on my face."

"Then don't jump around in here," Ryoma said as though he was stupid to not realize this.

Momo didn't say anything to that. It was true. He'd been stupid to jump. He just hadn't expected Ryoma to suddenly rub up against him like that.

He really needed to get this thing under control. There was obviously nothing he could do.

He was . . . Momo steeled himself to finish the thought. He was attracted to Ryoma. He was attracted to his best friend.

There. He'd admitted it. And if he'd expected to feel better for having done so then he was disappointed. If anything, he felt worse.

Why did this have to happen to him? Why did he have to be gay?

* * *

Ryoma had a feeling that something was going on with Momo. The other boy had been strangely quiet all day. Sure it was a little odd that they had been thrown into this closet, but that wouldn't normally have stopped Momo from chattering away like the monkey he was. He was a talkative guy. Too talkative. Ryoma wasn't exactly upset that he'd been so quiet. He would've gone insane if he'd been trapped in such a small place with somebody who wouldn't stop talking.

But then there was also how Momo was so jumpy. Ryoma had barely touched him and Momo had jumped nearly a foot back to get away. It was strange.

Ryoma himself was just trying to keep himself from falling asleep. It was comfortably warm in the closet with their shared body heat and Momo had proved in the past to be a very comfortable pillow. And Ryoma hadn't gotten a lot of sleep last night, kept up with questions about those strange letters from yesterday. Questions like: Who sent them? and, more importantly, Why had Ryoma reacted like he had to them?

Ryoma had felt like he almost wanted them to be real. He'd been almost disappointed to find out they hadn't been. Why?

Things were just so strange lately. First that day when the senpai kept pushing him into Momo and then that Truth or Dare game where he found out that everybody was—what was the word—gay? And then, after that, he'd had to pretend to like Oishi to get Oishi and Eiji back together. Everything was just strange.

And Ryoma just wanted to go to sleep. Being in this closet was boring and leaning against Momo would at least give his feet a bit of a break. They were starting to hurt.

But Ryoma held himself back. Momo was still acting strangely and Ryoma didn't want to add to whatever was going on his head.

Still . . . Ryoma thought as he shifted his weight again. His feet really did hurt. And he was so _bored_ . . . getting so sleepy . . .

* * *

Everybody else off getting ready for practice, Fuji stood in front of the janitor's closet, keys in hand. Nobody had asked or wanted to know how he had gotten a hold of them for the day.

It was time to let Ryoma and Momo out. Hopefully this day had given them enough time to get over their nerves and obliviousness and tell each other how they felt.

Turning the key in the lock, Fuji opened the door to find Momo frozen in place, eyes wide and unblinking, arms up and away from his body. Ryoma was leaning against his chest, one hand gently grasping at Momo's school uniform.

Fuji smiled at the scene. Obviously they'd done just fine.

"Oh, Fuji-senpai," Momo said, noticing him and the open door. Then the significance of this seemed to hit him and he cried, "Fuji-senpai! Echizen!" Momo shook Ryoma's shoulder roughly. "Echizen! We're free!"

"Wha?" Ryoma asked, blearily looking up and blinking dazedly.

"We're free!" Momo repeated, detaching himself from the younger boy. "Alright!" Bounding out of the closet, he stretched his arms over his head and smiled when he felt the tense muscles of his back relaxing. Then he turned to Fuji. "What time is it?"

Fuji still smiled. "Time for practice."

Blinking at this, Momo looked shocked. "We were in there the whole day?"

"Why _were_ we in there anyways, Fuji-senpai?" Ryoma asked, stepping out of the closet to look at Fuji accusingly.

Fuji smiled and waved a finger reprovingly. "Se-cret," he sing-songed.

"Whatever," Momo said, "I'm just glad to be out of there. Come on. Let's go."

Ryoms nodded as Momo turned and set off for practice, following behind. Quickly locking the closet, Fuji followed behind them, carefully watching the two. They didn't act any different and Momo seemed to be putting a lot of distance between the two of them.

So were they together?

This would take some looking into. Just to make sure.

* * *

TBC


	7. My Experience As A Stalker: Part 1

Okay. I wasn't going as fast as I was for the other ones with this one so I'm sorry for the wait. And this chapter was actually getting a little long so I've decided to break it into two. I hope you like it.

* * *

-

Chapter #4: My Experience as a Stalker: Part 1

-

"So are they together?" Eiji asked, pouncing on Fuji the moment he appeared in the clubhouse behind Momo and Ryoma.

"I'm not sure," Fuji replied honestly, watching Momo and Ryoma interact. Both were focused on their lockers and getting changed and they hadn't said anything at all to each other on the walk over there. Momo in particular seemed to be keeping a certain amount of distance between him and his younger friend. But that could just be nerves or something. Maybe they were uncomfortable in their new relationship or didn't want to show affection in public.

Of course it could also mean that they weren't together. Fuji would have to make sure.

"I have an idea," Fuji told Eiji after a moment. "Why don't we follow them?"

Hearing this, Eiji smiled "You mean do some good old-fashioned stalking?" he asked, barely thinking about this idea for a second before saying, "Sure!" Eiji looked genuinely excited by the prospect. There was a reason he and Fuji were best friends. "I'll go tell Oishi!" Eiji said and bounced off to tell his boyfriend of their change in plans.

Going back to watching Momo and Ryoma, Fuji smiled.

* * *

Nobody mentioned the closet incident at practice, Ryoma completely over it and not caring that much, Momo still too upset by his revelation while trapped to even think of it, and nobody else wanting to suffer Tezuka's wrath. So everyone escaped having to run laps for the incident. None of them had been late and none of them had acted like anything different was happening. As far as Tezuka knew, there was nothing that they had done wrong.

Fuji, Eiji, Oishi, and Inui _were _spending a lot of time watching Ryoma and Momo though so Tezuka was still somewhat suspicious. But he still couldn't find anything to fault them with so he was forced to let it go.

That didn't mean he wouldn't be watching though. He'd be watching closely. Very closely. Fuji was up to something again and he knew it. He remembered how Fuji had tried to get him involved with his Truth or Dare scheme. He just couldn't figure out what Fuji had done this time and that irritated him. So if he was a little less lenient when Eiji got overexcited or when Momo seemed distracted then that was his business.

But it was when break came around that he _really_ knew something was up. Eiji was chattering away at Fuji as usual, but Fuji was obviously barely listening. He was nodding his head at all the right moments, but all of his attention was really on the pair by the bench.

Oblivious to this attention, Ryoma sat on the bench, slowly sipping his water bottle like everything was normal. But it was Momo that worried Tezuka. Momo sat by Ryoma with a stubborn expression on his face, hands clutching at the bench till his knuckles went white. He looked like he was physically forcing himself to stay seated. Ryoma, it seemed, was content to ignore his friend's strangeness, but Fuji was frowning, obviously displeased.

"What did you do?" Tezuka asked, coming up behind him.

Fuji turned on him with a smile. "What makes you think I did anything?"

"I know you," Tezuka replied seriously, glaring down at the shorter boy. "What did you do?"

Fuji waved his seriousness off, turning back to the boys on the bench. "Nothing harmful."

"But you did do something," Tezuka said, his suspicions confirmed. Glancing back at the pair on the bench to find them sitting in much the same way as before, Tezuka turned back to Fuji with his eyes narrowed. "Momo looks like he's about to run away screaming."

Fuji laughed at that. "I hardly think he's that traumatized."

"Fuji . . ." Tezuka said warningly. Fuji knew that in some cases his scheming ways were okay, even cute, but he also knew that this was only when the consequences didn't affect important members of the team in a way that affected their tennis game. Momo had been too distracted all throughout practice and Tezuka didn't like it.

"You worry too much," Fuji said, determined to not see the bad of what he was doing. "Everything will turn out fine."

"Just make sure that he isn't like this next week," Tezuka said sternly. They had a tournament coming up and they would probably need Momo to play.

"He'll be back to normal by Monday," Fuji promised then looked up with another smile. "In fact, I would say he'll be _better _than normal."

What ever that meant, Tezuka didn't want to know. Just so long as Momo stayed mentally and physically unscarred, he'd be fine.

* * *

Need to be cool, calm, at ease. Need to act normal. Think normal. Be normal. Remember to blink.

Don't stare. Don't act jumpy. Don't look afraid. He'll notice it.

Be a man. Don't run away. Don't scream. Even if he touches you.

And for God's sake, no matter what you do, don't say a _thing_.

Momo repeated this like a mantra in his head, trying to follow his own advice and act like everything was just fine. It was hard when all Momo wanted to do was scream like a girl and run in the completely opposite direction.

"Momo-senpai?" Ryoma asked, coming up to him after practice. "Are we— Ryoma started and Momo quickly went through his mantra again. Need to act normal. Think normal. Be normal. Don't run away. Don't scream.

Ryoma's question went unanswered, so he tried again. "Momo-senpai?"

Act normal. Think normal. Be normal. Don't run away. Don't scream.

"Momo-senpai," Ryoma said, now getting irritated.

Don't run away. Don't scream. Be a man. Act—

"Momo-senpai!"

"I—Huh?" Momo asked, blinking over at Ryoma as he was forced out of his thoughts.

Ryoma glared at him. "Are we going to get burgers today? I don't want to go home. The school probably called and told our parents we skipped class."

They probably had. "Oh yeah . . ." Momo said, looking off into space. He had to decide quickly. Did he hang out with Ryoma, the source of all his current problems, or did he go home and face his parent's wrath? Momo winced. He could already hear his mom's screaming. She was really serious about school and would not be happy to hear that he had skipped. She probably wouldn't believe him if he told her he'd been locked in a closet all day either.

Momo turned back to Ryoma. "Let's get burgers. And let's be really slow about it too, okay?"

That sounded just fine to Ryoma. He nodded and the two of them went off to get Momo's bike and start the walk to the burger place.

* * *

"Do we go in?" Eiji asked, watching the burger place worriedly. They had followed Momo and Ryoma off the school campus all the way to this burger shop and now they waited outside as Momo and Ryoma went in. He turned back to his fellow stalkers to say, "We'll lose track of them out here."

"Won't they notice us?" Oishi asked.

Fuji smiled at him for the worry. "I'm sure if we stay back and out of the way they'll be too busy eating to look around."

Oishi didn't look convinced, but Eiji nodded, taking the matter out of his hands as he said, "Alright then let's go!"

The three of them walked casually into the burger place, careful not to draw attention to themselves. They stealthily camouflaged themselves in groups of people and hid behind plants, ignoring the weird looks this drew, until they slipped into a booth that had a good view of Ryoma and Momo's table but was out of direct sight. It was a little far away, so they couldn't hear what was being said, but they figured they would be able to tell what was going on by Momo and Ryoma's actions alone. So far, the two younger boys had gotten their piles of food and had just started eating.

"It shouldn't take them too long to eat," Eiji said, knowing from past experience, "They pretty much just shove the food in."

Oishi and Fuji nodded and the three settled in to wait. An hour later they were still waiting. There had been a few false starts, the three of them thinking Momo and Ryoma were done only to have one of the boys get up to buy another burger or shake. It was frustrating and Eiji had long since gotten bored and was slouched over in his seat, propping his head up with a hand. "Are they done yet?" he asked dully, not really expecting a positive answer.

Looking over at the two younger boys, Oishi shook his head. "They're still eating."

Groaning, Eiji let his head fall down to hit the table. "Why?" he asked the world miserably.

Fuji patted him on the back comfortingly and smiled. "I'm sure they'll be done soon."

Finally, after what seemed like forever to Eiji, Momo and Ryoma seemed finished, but then they had a short conversation that Oishi, Fuji, and Eiji couldn't hear.

Eiji looked frustrated at this. "We need to get closer." Despite what they'd thought, Momo and Ryoma's actions weren't telling them anything.

Oishi shook his head. "Any closer and they'll notice us."

Frowning, Eiji turned to his boyfriend. "But if we don't get closer then how will we be able to tell if they're together? We won't be able to hear."

"But if they see us following them then that won't matter," Oishi pointed out. "We need to stay hidden or this will all be over before we can find anything out."

"But we can't find anything out if we can't hear," Eiji argued.

"But if we get any closer then they'll see us," Oishi countered, now frowning himself.

"But we need to hear," Eiji insisted.

Ignoring the developing fight next to him, Fuji had kept his eyes on the younger boys and nodded as Momo and Ryoma stood up to leave. "Let's go," he said, cutting into the fight before Oishi could respond, "They're leaving," he explained when they turned to look at him in confusion as he stood up to leave. Quickly looking in the direction of the two younger boys, Oishi and Eiji shut up, nodding in understanding as they stood to follow behind.

* * *

Momo may have eaten a little more than he should have. He felt a little sick. "Maybe I shouldn't have had that seventh burger," he groaned, holding his stomach as he and Ryoma walked to the manga shop they liked.

"You're an idiot," Ryoma told him bluntly, looking up at Momo briefly as he walked alongside the older boy. He felt perfectly fine, but then he hadn't eaten as much as Momo had. He'd started to feel stuffed around the fourth burger and completely stopped eating after the fifth.

"Shut up," Momo grumbled and gave Ryoma a half-hearted glare, not wanting to hear it. It was getting easier and easier the longer he was in Ryoma's company to ignore the strange new thoughts and feelings that the younger boy produced. This was probably helped along by the fact that Ryoma wasn't acting any different then normal. Momo could fall back into usual patterns of behavior and pretend ignorance for a few short hours. So as long as Ryoma didn't touch him or do anything weird or cute or provocative in any way he would be safe.

They walked along in silence for a few moments, Momo's attention more on his hurting stomach than anything else, when Ryoma's eyes suddenly went wide and he abruptly grabbed Momo's arm. "Momo-senpai!" Ryoma exclaimed.

"Ah!" Momo freaked out, jumping back and quickly shaking Ryoma's hands off of him. "Don't do that!" he nearly screamed.

Ryoma backed off and gave him a weird look. "I just touched you."

"You grabbed me!" Momo corrected, holding his arm close and looking almost violated. "Don't _do_ stuff like that!"

"What?" Ryoma said, starting to look evil. "Like . . . this?" He slowly reached out to touch Momo on the arm with one finger.

"Ah!" Momo freaked out again, jumping back a whole foot. "Echizen!" Momo protested.

Slowly, a small, evil smile was growing on Ryoma's face. If Momo freaked out with that, what would happen if he did . . . this? Quickly, before Momo could react, Ryoma reached out and poked him in the chest.

"Hey!" Momo protested, moving back a step.

Starting to grin, Ryoma stepped forward and poked him again, this time getting his stomach.

"Hey! Stop that!"

Ignoring him, Ryoma just grinned and poked him yet again.

"Okay this isn't funny, Echizen!" Momo said, now almost backed into a wall and trying to ward off the other boy, "Stop it!"

Thankfully, Ryoma took pity on him and stopped, looking at Momo with some amused disbelief. "What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing!" Momo said loudly, despite all evidence to the contrary. "You just won't stop poking me!"

"I'm only poking you because you're freaking out," Ryoma explained simply, looking like this should be obvious and it kind of was.

Momo straightened and tried to regain his dignity, patting down his shirt and not looking at the younger boy. "So?" he finally said. "You shouldn't go around grabbing people like that."

"I was just going to tell you something," Ryoma said blandly.

Oh, Momo thought, feeling kind of stupid. "What was it then?" he asked, determined not to show how embarrassed he actually was feeling. Because what the hell had he been doing? Why had he freaked out so badly? He thought he'd been doing okay. Apparently not.

"I thought I saw Fuji-senpai hiding behind a bush," Ryoma told him.

Momo turned to him, looking a little surprised. "And you grabbed me for _that_?"

"Well obviously I didn't think you were going to start _screaming_."

* * *

Eiji, Fuji, and Oishi fit almost comfortably behind the bushes lining the sidewalk across the street from Momo and Ryoma. Passersby could still see them hunched together and gave them weird looks, but they were ignoring that. As long as Momo and Ryoma couldn't see them then things were fine.

"What are they doing now?" Eiji whispered, leaning closer to Fuji, not daring to move his head above the safety of the bush.

"I think they're . . ." Peeking his head above the foliage, Fuji squinted to make sure. "Yes, they're poking each other."

"Still? Boring. When are they gonna get to the good stuff?"

"I don't think there's ever going to be any "good stuff"," Oishi said, putting a hand over his eyes to block the fading sunlight and squinting across the street like an explorer at the two younger boys. "I really don't think they're together."

"No. They have to be together," Eiji said, "Didn't you hear what Fuji said? Ochibi was sleeping on Momo."

"So?" Oishi replied, finally turning to look at his boyfriend with a frown. "They do that all the time on the bus home from tournaments."

Eiji couldn't argue with this. It was true. Not liking that he could be wrong, Eiji pouted and changed the subject. "Well we still can't hear anything."

Fuji and Oishi both ignored him, going back to watching Momo and Ryoma. Ryoma had finally stopped poking Momo and now the two seemed to be talking, Momo standing there with as much dignity as he could manage.

"What do you think they're saying?" Oishi asked.

Fuji frowned. "I don't know . . ."

Now Eiji dared to peek his own head above the foliage and squinted across the street at the two younger boys. Momo seemed to be laughing nervously, putting a hand behind his head as Ryoma gave him a look. Finally, Ryoma just shook his head and the two started walking again.

"Oh man," Eiji complained, not looking forward to the sneaking that was coming. "Can't they just find a spot and stick to it?"

Oishi smiled at his complaints, but turned to usher him on. "Come on. You're the one who wanted to follow them. Let's go."

* * *

"Hey! Look at this one."

Ryoma came over to see Momo's find. Seeing the bright colors and images of men in various fighting poses on the cover, he shook his head. "Stupid."

"What are you talking about?" Momo asked, defending his find. "Stupid. It's not stupid."

"It's stupid," Ryoma repeated before turning and walking off deeper into the manga shop.

"Don't know what he's talking about," Momo muttered to himself, rereading the back of the manga in his hands. "This is cool."

Ryoma wandered deeper into the store, not really looking for anything, just kind of browsing. Maybe he'd find something interesting but he wasn't really there to buy anything. Hearing the sound of giggles, he turned down the next aisle to find a group of three girls huddled together in front of a display, collectively looking at one manga that the middle girl held in her hands. Seeing the bright pink of the display, bubbles surrounding the forms of two rather pretty boys with their arms locked around each other, Ryoma blinked. Wow. He was seeing this gay thing everywhere now that he knew about it.

But what were those girls doing reading about it?

Not seeing anything else interesting and deciding he was curious about those girls, Ryoma wandered back out into the front of the shop. "Hey, Momo-senpai?" he asked, tugging on the older boy's sleeve. "There are some girls back there reading gay manga."

"What?" Momo asked distractedly, not looking up from his manga. "Oh . . . oh yeah," he mumbled absently, turning the page, "Those are yaoi fans. Just ignore them. They're weird."

Ryoma nodded, accepting this, then moved on to his next question. "Are you ready to go?"

Now Momo looked up. "What?" he asked as though unable to believe Ryoma had actually asked him that. "No way. I'm not going home until I absolutely have to. Here." Momo grabbed a random manga from the shelves and held it out to Ryoma. "Look at that one. It looked interesting."

Taking the manga from his friend's hands, Ryoma turned it over to look at it. There on the cover was the drawing of a man seated in the middle of a deserted wasteland, seeming to be screaming at the sky. That not looking bad, Ryoma turned it over to read the back. The story was some over used, over-clichéd trash about a man and his woman on an alien planet. Boring. He placed the manga back where it came from and picked up the one next to it. This one was better, but still not something he would want to read.

Momo, meanwhile, finally put down his manga to put it on the pile of others he was planning to buy and moved on, grabbing the manga next to the one Ryoma had grabbed. "Oh this one's cool too," he said happily.

Putting the manga he had in his hands back into its place, Ryoma grabbed one of the same manga Momo had grabbed and turned it over to read, wanting to see what was so cool. Yet another fighting manga. Always the same storyline. Ryoma really had to wonder about Momo's taste sometimes.

The sound of giggling coming closer, Ryoma looked up. It was those same girls as before, emerging from the shelves. And, having noticed them, Ryoma went back to the comics only to wince as the giggles seemed to only increase as the girls got closer. Looking up again, he was surprised to find them looking his way, one of the girls even pointing at him and Momo before hiding her face behind a hand and giggling profusely. If he listened he could hear various phrases like, "So cute," "Awww," "He's so pretty," "I love them!" and "He must be the uke."

What's an uke? Ryoma wondered, right before wondering why they seemed to be talking about him. They were looking straight at him.

Quickly, Ryoma nudged Momo sharply with an elbow, trying to get the older boy's attention. When that didn't work he did it again, harder this time.

"What?" Momo asked, sounding disgruntled as he looked down at Ryoma. "I'm trying to read here."

Ryoma ignored his complaints. "It's those weird girls that were reading the gay stuff," he said, pointing in their direction.

Momo looked in the direction he was pointing. "Oh," he said, not sounding all that interested. "What are they doing giggling like that? And what's "so cute"?"

"I think they're talking about _us_," Ryoma said, sounding confused. Because why would they be talking about him and Momo? They hadn't been doing anything overtly gay, had they? He didn't think so. Unless reading manga next to each other was now a gay activity.

Momo's eyes went wide. "Us?" he breathed, sounding horrified.

"Yeah."

"But – but I haven't done anything!" Momo cried anxiously, "How could they know?!"

Looking up at his friend, Ryoma repeated that last question in his head. How could they know? But that meant . . . "You're _gay_?" Ryoma asked, looking at Momo in disbelief. "I thought you said you weren't."

"What?" Momo turned to him and seemed to realize what he had just said. "No. No! I didn't mean that! I meant . . . I meant . . . Why would they think that? That's what I meant."

That was the stupidest attempt to throw off suspicion that Ryoma had ever heard. Ryoma gave Momo a flat, unimpressed look and repeated, "You're gay."

"No!" Momo denied loudly, shaking his head frantically, hands close to wringing the manga he held in his hands. In the background, the girls' giggles just got louder.

"I heard you, Momo-senpai," Ryoma said, still looking up at the older boy flatly.

"I . . . I . . ." Momo quieted, looking torn. Then, finally seeming to realize that there was nothing he could do, he hung his head. "Yes. I am." Momo looked up with an almost sad smile. "I guess you're going to be the only straight Regular now, huh?"

Ryoma blinked at him for a moment, processing this, and then looked down, tugging at his hat. "Yeah . . . I guess . . ." His reaction to the letters still hung in his mind, but that didn't necessarily mean he was gay, did it? He'd never really thought about sexual preference. It had never been important. He'd always just assumed boys went with girls and that was it. And he'd never really been interested in girls no matter how much his dad wanted him to be. They were just too . . . girly. He didn't get what the big deal was. Their hair was too long and most of them couldn't swing a tennis racket to save their life. And they were always wearing too much perfume and they giggled too much and he just didn't get why the other boys in his class nearly drooled when a girl with big breasts walked by. He'd always imagined breasts would just get in the way and be annoying.

But the circumstances of the last few days were really throwing his thoughts on sexuality into question. Maybe it _was_ an important thing to figure out. Maybe it _was_ weird that he wasn't interested in having a girlfriend. He'd always just been content with it being him and Momo hanging out and had never wanted to interrupt that time.

Not liking where his thoughts were going, Ryoma tugged on his hat one last time and looked up at Momo. "Are you ready to go now? We can go down to the tennis courts."

"Yeah," Momo said, looking down at the manga he was almost wringing in his hands. "Just let me buy these and we can go."

* * *

TBC


	8. My Experience As A Stalker: PArt 2

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Okay I am really, really sorry this took so long. And then this chapter is shorter than all the others too, which just make things worse. I'm sorry. But here it is. Finally. I hope you like it. It's going to be a little more dramatic than all the others to make up for the shortness. And thank you for all the reviews.

--

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Chapter #7: My Experience As A Stalker: Part 2

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"Can you see them?" Oishi asked, squinting across the street from where he was trying to hide behind a lamppost.

"I can see Momo, but Ochibi's too far into the store," Eiji replied, squatting down behind a bench

"Well, they're not doing anything anyway so I suppose it doesn't matter," Fuji said from his spot behind the bench next to Eiji.

Agreeing with him, Eiji sighed. "This is getting boring. They're not doing anything."

"You think we should just go home?" Oishi asked, looking down at where his boyfriend was squatting.

"No," Fuji said stubbornly, narrowing his eyes at the oblivious Momo across the street. "They've done nothing to prove that they are together, but they've also done nothing to prove that they aren't together. We stay."

"What are you doing?" a confused voice asked from out of nowhere.

Eiji, Oishi, and Fuji all turned at the sound of the voice. Behind them, Kaidoh was looking down at them curiously, a confused frown on his face. Inui, at his side and looking as calm as always, seemed not to need an answer. He already knew.

Calmly squatting down next to Fuji, and dragging a protesting Kaidoh down with him, Inui got comfortable behind the bench and asked, "Are things going well?" It seemed like he was going to join them.

Fuji forced a small smile for the other boy. He didn't like being wrong or having his plans not work and it seemed both were happening right now. "I'm afraid we've been having a little trouble finding anything in their behavior that points to a success."

Inui hmm'd and looked across the street at the still oblivious Momo. Crouched next to him, Kaidoh grumbled angry things under his breath and got comfortable. Unable to believe their plans were being canceled so that they could spy on the idiot, he also knew better than to speak up.

"Have you tried forcing them into situations that would give you your answer?" Inui asked.

"We don't want to risk them seeing us," Fuji explained, looking back across the street. "We've been keeping our distance since we began."

"Of course," Inui said with a calm nod.

"Hey, I think they're getting ready to leave," Eiji noticed. Across the street Ryoma had joined Momo in the front of the manga shop. The two had a short conversation, Ryoma seeming to be asking about something that was just out of their line of sight. Either way the question looked like it freaked Momo out, but then he was back to normal and approached the counter to buy his chosen manga.

Eiji sighed. "I wish we could tell what they were saying."

Inui nodded calmly once more. "Yes. That would be rather helpful."

"Oh. There they go," Oishi noticed and Eiji looked up to see Momo and Ryoma exiting the shop. "Are we going to follow them?" Oishi asked, turning to Fuji.

Fuji nodded, a determined look crossing his face as he stood up to follow the two younger boys across the street. "We _will_ get our answers."

--

Momo and Ryoma got to the street tennis courts to find them rather busy with all the regular people. It seemed like they would have to play doubles then. So they got in line.

Not that Momo was going to be of any use, he had to admit to himself. His nerves were still somewhat rattled by his rather unexpected coming out of the closet and he was distracted. Had he actually just told Ryoma he was gay? Like, truly gay? Wasn't that a bit premature? He had only just realized it himself. Shouldn't he have had at least a couple more days to get used to the idea before going public with it?

But no. He'd been unable to keep it a secret for even one day, never mind three. He'd just blurted it out, just like that.

Maybe it was just because it had been Ryoma who'd asked. Maybe he wouldn't have been quite so open with anybody else. Because if anybody else asked him right now what he thought of boys, he most definitely wouldn't blurt out his sudden love of cock and, oh God, had he actually just thought that? Did the word cock just honestly come into his mind after the words 'love of'?

Momo wasn't sure he was ready to be quite so gay. Maybe he should tone it down just a little before he started to flame any worse. Next thing he knew he would be wearing sequins and talking with a lisp.

And was it significant that he was attracted to _Ryoma_ of all people? Ryoma, the really short kid with the baby face? Was he going to grow up to be that sick pervert down the street that molested little boys? Parents wouldn't be able to leave their kids within ten feet of him without him wanting to get his dirty, gay hands all over them.

"Momo-sempai?"

Oh God, he was _sick_. He needed to be taken away from society and shot before his presence could corrupt it any worse than it already was.

"Momo-senpai?"

Quick. Did he like any other boys? Was he going to suddenly start lusting after Horio? Or worse, Horio's little brother? The kid was seven years old!

"Momo-senpai. Are you okay?" Ryoma asked, looking up at him with something like concern and Momo was made suddenly aware that he had stopped moving. The people in front of him in line had moved ahead and he was still stuck someplace a few feet back. But he also wasn't sure he could do this anymore. He couldn't keep pretending everything was okay, because everything was not okay. Everything was horrible. He wanted to die. Maybe when he got home he would take the easy way out and commit suicide.

"I feel sick," Momo said, putting his arms around his middle. "I think I need to sit down."

"I told you not to eat so much," Ryoma said somewhat irritably as the two of them exited the line for the courts and he walked Momo back over to the bench. Without Momo, Ryoma didn't have a partner so he would just have to sit on the sidelines until either he could find another partner or Momo started feeling better.

Momo decided not to tell Ryoma that his sudden illness had nothing to do with all the burgers he'd eaten. "I know. I know," he said instead as he slowly eased himself down onto the bench and then put his head in his hands. He almost wanted to just go home and get the suicide over with, but Ryoma would probably wonder why he was in such a hurry to get home when he'd previously been so adamant about staying out for as long as possible. Feeling ill wouldn't be an excuse.

Momo sighed and Ryoma sat down next to him to watch the matches, which was just great. He could feel the younger boy next to him even if he wasn't exactly looking at him and that was just playing hell on his libido and feelings. He could remember what it was like to kiss him from the Truth or Dare game—thank you Fuji—and he could remember the feel of Ryoma's body pressing into his in the closet—and again, thank you Fuji—and, now that he thought about it, this had to all be Fuji's fault. That was probably who had written the letter that started all of this and that was who had probably been the one with the idea to shove him and Ryoma into the closet. And, actually, now that he thought about it, the events of the last two weeks suddenly seemed to make a lot more sense.

Fuji did it all. He'd probably been the one to tell the others to keep pushing Ryoma into him. He'd been the one to orchestrate the whole Truth or Dare game. Hell, Momo suddenly wasn't so sure that Eiji and Oishi really had had a fight and broken up naturally. Fuji had probably been behind that as well. Lord knows why, but that was the only thing that made sense. Oishi and Eiji just didn't fight like that.

Starting to get angry now, Momo scowled and took his head out of his hands. "Fuji-senpai," he muttered angrily, narrowing his eyes at the players on the court and gritting his teeth.

Fuji was the reason he had started questioning his sexuality. Fuji was the reason he was currently in love with his oblivious best friend. Fuji was the reason he was currently sick to his stomach at the thought of what he was going to become. Fuji did it all!

And for what? A few laughs? No, he'd probably _wanted _Momo to start questioning things. That was the only explanation. He'd _wanted_ Momo to know he was in love with Ryoma when Momo had been so much happier being oblivious to the whole thing!

"Momo-senpai?" Ryoma asked, looking at him with some worry now. Momo didn't blame him. It wasn't very often that Momo ever got angry and never just out of nowhere like it probably seemed to Ryoma.

Momo suddenly stood with only the briefest of vague explanations before storming off. "We need to find Fuji-senpai."

--

Ryoma had to admit, if only to himself, that he was worried. Momo had complained of being sick, but had then all of a sudden gotten incredibly angry and stormed off. Hurriedly picking up both of their belongings, Ryoma had, of course, followed and had been trying to figure out what had made Momo so angry ever since, but he hadn't had any luck with asking. Momo had just hissed an angry, "It was all him. All him. Fuji did it all," before continuing on. He seemed to be looking for something, but other than that Ryoma had absolutely no idea what was going on. Obviously Fuji had done something, but what Ryoma had no clue.

"You!" Momo finally shouted, pointing at an innocent bush across the street and storming over to it, thankfully remembering to use the crosswalk.

Now even more worried that Momo had finally lost it, Ryoma followed his obviously crazy best friend, trying to make Momo see sense. "Momo-senpai, it's a bush."

"No," Momo growled as they approached closer and Ryoma could finally see what Momo had obviously already seen. There were figures crouched behind the bush. Very familiar figures. Five of them. "I just remembered it a couple of minutes ago. You remember when you thought you saw Fuji-senpai hiding behind a bush?" Momo asked Ryoma tightly, obviously trying for calm but only coming across as psychotic when he then smiled. "Well, here's why."

Confused, Ryoma looked at his senpai. "They were following us?" Eiji and Oishi at least had the grace to look apologetic, but Inui just looked calm and Fuji smiled innocently. Kaidoh tried to pretend like he wasn't with them.

"Yes," Momo hissed out, obviously only getting more enraged by this fact. "They were."

"But why?" Ryoma asked, still confused.

"You remember when they were pushing us into each other?" Momo asked tightly again, obviously trying to restrain himself from doing anything drastic. "Or that Truth or Dare game where they kept daring us to kiss?"

"Yeah . . ." Ryoma said slowly, starting to get the feeling that he knew where this was going.

"And then there was that day Oishi-senpai and Eiji-senpiai fought. And then that day with the letters. And then the closet. And then now. It was _them_ all along. All part of their _sick_ little plan to make me lose my mind!" This he shouted at the small group of guilty senpai. Again, only Eiji and Oishi, had the grace to look apologetic.

"Now Momo," Fuji began calmly as the lot of them slowly stood.

But Momo wasn't to be calmed. "Do you even know what you've done?" he shouted. Random people out walking the streets were starting to be attracted to Momo's loud voice and they began to gather in a curious circle around the small group of teenagers.

"We were trying to help!" Fuji said, only just starting to look a little worried. He obviously hadn't been prepared for Momo to be this angry.

"Help?" Momo repeated incredulously. "HELP?" he said again in a louder tone of voice. "How is what you've done _helpful_?!" Momo shouted, his face getting red as he continued to create a spectacle and people continued to mill around. Ryoma had never seen his friend like this. It was kind of scary.

"We just wanted you to be aware of your feelings!" Fuji replied.

Your feelings? Ryoma wondered even as he said this. What did he mean by feelings?

"Because of you I am going to grow up," Momo started, obviously trying to calm himself, "lonely and alone and depressed and with a taste for SMALL CHILDREN!!"

This made the growing crowd around them murmur amongst themselves and the senpai to blink, obviously confused.

"Wait, what?" Eiji asked.

"Have you looked at him?" Momo shouted as he pointed a finger straight at Ryoma's face. "He looks like a little kid! Couldn't you have a t least waited until he grew into his face first?!"

Ryoma blinked, more than confused himself. How had this turned to his appearance? What was going on?

"I told you this was a bad idea," Oishi murmured.

"His face?" Fuji said, obviously not quite sure what to do with this new knowledge. "That's what bothers you? His face? Not anything else?"

Momo crossed his arms over his chest, sure in his opinion. "And he's scrawny."

Ryoma frowned, not quite sure what was going on but knowing that he had just been insulted. "Hey."

Fuji still looked confused. "But it's alright with you that he's a guy?"

"Well," Momo said, obviously calming down now that he had gotten all of the screaming out of his system. "I'd prefer if he wasn't, of course, but I'm not homophobic."

"Interesting. Good data," Inui muttered, whipping out his notebook to write this down.

"Wait," Ryoma said, only getting more confused. "Why does it matter that I'm a guy? And why does he care what I look like so much?"

Fuji ignored him, still talking to Momo. "So you're angry at me because . . . ?"

"Because it's too early, dammit," Momo said, almost whining now. "Why couldn't it have waited a few more years until he at least looked the right age?"

Ryoma frowned again, starting to get impatient. "Will someone tell me why what I look like matters so much?"

At this, Momo finally turned to him irritably. "You mean you haven't figured it out yet?"

"No," Ryoma told him just as irritably, "I haven't. So why don't you tell me?"

Momo just looked at him for a moment then finally decided, "I don't think I'm gonna. I wanna see how long it takes for you to figure it out." And then he smirked.

Ryoma scowled, not too happy with that decision. He wanted to know what was going on and he wanted to know _now._

"Well, Momo," Fuji said calmly, bringing them back on topic, "I'm sorry if you weren't ready, but you were just taking too long. I've known about this for over a _year_ now. We all have."

Momo turned back to that conversation. "But did you ever think that maybe I was _happy_ being oblivious? That maybe I wasn't _ready_ to know what I feel?"

"But you could be just as happy _knowing_. Even happier, I bet!"

Knowing _what_? Ryoma thought, trying to think furiously of things Momo could be happy about. Nothing was coming to mind.

"And just how could I be _happier_?" Momo asked incredulously. "What on Earth would make me happy about knowing I love him?"

Love him? Ryoma's mind repeated. Then: _Oh_ . . . Suddenly everything made much more sense. Why his appearance mattered. Why Fuji had done all of those things. It was because Momo _loved_ him.

_Oh . . ._

Fuji suddenly looked sly. "You haven't figured out the last bit of it."

Momo was brought up short. "There's more?" he asked, sounding confused. Then he frowned. "Wait. What? What is it?"

"I think you're going to have to ask Echizen that," Fuji said, smiling cheerfully.

"Echizen . . ." Momo said slowly as he remembered that Ryoma was still standing there, horror starting to grow on his face as he slowly turned to face his friend. Then, taking in Ryoma's expression, he said, "Oh . . . Oh shit."

Ryoma was frozen. He hadn't moved since the realization. Momo _loved_ him. _Momo_ loved him. Momo loved _him_. Momo loved him!

No matter how he said it, it just didn't seem real. This couldn't be happening.

"Echizen . . . Echizen . . ." Momo said, trying to get his attention. "What you heard . . . I didn't mean it. It was just a joke. You know . . . ha ha?" Even Momo didn't look like he believed himself.

Ryoma couldn't take it. He turned and bolted.

"Echizen!" Momo cried after him.

--

TBC.


	9. So We Finally Know

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Alright this is the last chapter. Can you believe it? I hope you like this last chapter and had fun reading the story. And really thank you for all the reviews. This is my highest reviewed story yet!

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Chapter #8: So We Finally Know

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Echizen had immediately gone home, where his mom had yelled at him, his dad had made a few perverted comments, and he had been grounded for two weeks for skipping school. There wasn't any point in telling them that his crazy senpai had locked him in a closet in an attempt to match make him with Momo so he didn't bother. All he wanted to do was get up to his room and maybe stay there until the world started to make sense again. He didn't even mind that he was grounded because he usually would be hanging out with Momo and right then Momo was the last person he wanted to see.

How could Momo be in love with him? That just wasn't . . . well . . . it was unexpected at least. Even knowing about homosexuality now, Momo had been his last choice for the person to fall in love with him. The older boy just seemed so straight, what with all those girls literally throwing themselves at his feet.

And everybody had known this but him? Ryoma knew he wasn't exactly the most observant of people but he thought he would be able to recognize if someone was in love with him. That seemed a little too big to be able to hide. Though Momo had apparently managed to hide it even from himself so maybe Ryoma was wrong. Not that Momo was exactly Mr. Observant either.

But what really bothered him was the question of what to do now. What did Momo expect of him? What does a person _say_ after they find out their best friend likes them a little more than they should?

Fuji had instigated this whole plan to get them together so obviously he thought Momo and Ryoma should do the whole dating thing, but what did Momo want? What did Ryoma want?

Obviously Fuji thought Ryoma had feelings for Momo too or else he wouldn't have tried to set them up. (Or would he have? You never know.) But was Fuji right? Did Ryoma like Momo like _that_?

Thinking about this, Ryoma finally had to say that maybe he did and maybe he didn't. Ryoma had absolutely no idea how he would know. It wasn't like he had a lot of experience with relationships before this after all. Sure girls had tried, but Ryoma had always either been ignorant of their feelings or too busy with tennis and Momo to care.

Why would he need a girlfriend anyways? What good were they? So they could be used for sex things, big deal. Ryoma had never exactly been all that interested in sex things and even if he had he'd always had a little trouble finding girls attractive. They just seemed strangely bulbous when compared to guys and what he was used to. They were all off-balance and lumpy and always insisting on spraying themselves with the smell of flowers of all things. Why flowers, he'd always wondered. Why not something that actually smelled good and wasn't so girly? Like hamburgers. Momo smelled like hamburgers sometimes.

_Momo wrapping his arms around him and holding him close, his warmth and laughter, the smell of hamburgers and greasy fries and sweat. _

Shaking his head, Ryoma blinked back to reality. That was weird. What the hell had _that_ been?

He'd been thinking about girls. About how weird looking and girly smelling and all around boring they were. Ryoma frowned, rethinking that thought. Did that make him gay?

Thinking this over and running what he knew of homosexuality over in his mind, Ryoma had to say that maybe, probably, almost definitely, yes, it did.

But did that mean he was attracted to Momo?

"What do you think Karupin?" Ryoma asked his cat, who was curled up alongside him on his bed. "Do I like him?"

Karupin looked up and gave him a _you-interrupted-my-nap-for-this-stupidity?_ look. "Meow."

Ryoma sighed and went back to petting Karupin's silky fur. "Yeah, I don't know either."

--

After Ryoma ran off, Momo decided to give the younger boy some time and then figured that he had put off going home for long enough. With a sigh, he said good-bye to his senpai and set off for his house where he was promptly yelled at and grounded for a week.

Now it was the next morning and Momo had spent the whole night fretting about what would happen when he got to school. Would Ryoma say anything? Would Ryoma try to avoid him? What if nothing changed and Ryoma decided to just ignore his accidental confession? Could he handle a brush-off like that?

Apparently yes, he could, as he'd discovered that morning during practice.

"Here's your bag," Ryoma said, coming up to Momo at practice and handing over Momo's bag.

"Ah. Thanks," Momo said, taking the bag from him.

Ryoma nodded and then turned around, apparently just going to leave it at that.

"What," Momo said, sounding confused. "That's it? No insults. No big 'stay away from me' speeches?"

Ryoma turned back to him and calmly raised a brow. "Did you want me to?"

"Well I want you to at least say _something_," Momo said.

"Like what?" Ryoma asked, still calmly and almost like Momo was being ridiculous for even caring.

"Well, you know," Momo said, able to come up with a few things but not sure if he should say them. "Maybe tell me to get lost or never speak to you again or maybe call me the scum from your shoes. Something like that. You know, get it over with. Don't just ignore me and leave me guessing and expect me to be okay with that."

At this, Ryoma frowned, his attention now caught. "Why would I say any of those things?"

"Oh I dunno," Momo said with a heavy sigh. "Maybe because you now hate me?"

"I don't hate you," Ryoma said.

"Well then why did you run away yesterday?" Momo asked, just daring Ryoma to answer that one.

Ryoma shifted on his feet uneasily and looked away with an uncomfortable shrug. "I dunno. What was I supposed to do?"

"Not run away," Momo said bluntly.

This made Ryoma turn back to Momo with a frown. Opening his mouth, he was about to say something to that when Nakayama-sensei, their coach, blew the whistle. Momo winced at the shrill sound and both Ryoma and him turned their heads to see what the coach wanted. It was time for practice.

--

Ryoma wasn't quite sure of what to think about Momo thinking he hated him. He didn't like it for one. It made him uncomfortable and he definitely wanted to clear up the misunderstanding, but he couldn't quite do that until he figured out just what he _was_ feeling.

Did he like Momo? He knew he definitely cared about him—he was his best friend, of course he cared—but did he care about him in that particular way? And could he actually call that feeling love?

Ryoma didn't know so he ignored Momo for the rest of the day, retreating to the roof during lunch and making sure he wasn't at his locker long enough for Momo to catch up to him.

But then it was afternoon practice time and Ryoma couldn't quite avoid Momo during that. He could ignore him though so that was what he would do.

Coming up to the clubhouse, he thought he heard the distinct sound of muffled laughter and a few furiously hissed shushes before the laughter quieted. Wondering what was going on, Ryoma slowed his pace, not quite sure he wanted to go inside anymore. Obviously the senpai were planning something else. But when he paused at the doorway, somebody came up behind him and prodded him impatiently. "Are you going in or not?"

It was Momo and he didn't wait for Ryoma to answer, pushing past the younger boy to open the door and step through.

Almost automatically the laughter broke out again and Eiji said loudly, "Momo! Stay where you are!"

Momo immediately stopped in place, but looked confused. "Huh?"

"Stay where you are!" Eiji repeated, laughter in his voice, and then commanded, "And look up!"

Both Ryoma, still standing just outside the door, and Momo, standing right in the doorway, looked up. There hanging right above their heads was a branch of mistletoe.

"Mistletoe?" Momo said, sounding even more confused, and then poked at the small branch above his head curiously. "What's mistletoe doing here? It's the middle of May!"

Ryoma just closed his eyes and put a hand to his forehead. The senpai again. He couldn't believe this. They were _still_ trying to get him and Momo together? And in such a stupid way too.

"Kiss! Kiss!" Eiji urged cheerfully.

Apparently starting to get what was going on here, Momo gave Eiji a truly irritated look. "I thought I told you all to stop messing with us."

Here Fuji spoke up, an innocent smile on his face. "Actually you never said anything of the sort."

Hearing this, Momo frowned and tried to remember everything he had said yesterday. Giving it up as useless, he finally shook his head and said, "Well I heavily implied it at least."

"Hmm. Maybe," Fuji allowed.

"So are you gonna kiss or not?" Eiji asked, starting to sound a little annoyed himself.

"Not," Ryoma said, eyeing Eiji flatly.

"But you have to!" Eiji complained, "It's mistletoe!"

"So?" Ryoma said, not caring. "It's not Christmas."

"So?" Eiji repeated back at him. "Who cares if it's Christmas. You still have to kiss."

Ryoma shook his head, remaining stubborn. "That only works at Christmas."

"No, it doesn't!"

"I'm gonna have to go with Echizen on this one," Momo said, "It's not Christmas so it doesn't count." He turned to eye the mistletoe. "We should probably take it down though, huh?"

"What? No!" Eiji shouted a little more frantically, seeing his plan going up in smoke. "You have to kiss!"

Ignoring him, Momo reached up for the mistletoe and grabbed it. "I'll go throw this away."

Seeing that his plan had failed, Eiji sighed and looked disappointed. Oishi patted him on the back comfortingly and that was okay, but he'd really wanted his plan to work.

They were so close. Momo had already confessed, even if it was accidental, so all they needed now was to push Ryoma over the edge and into the truth.

But how to do it?

--

Momo still wasn't quite at his best during practice. He'd been miserably distracted all throughout morning practice and he was only marginally better during the afternoon. Tezuka had to force him to run laps because it was clear that Momo's mind was not on tennis.

Momo's mind was actually on that short confrontation with Ryoma from that morning. He'd said he didn't hate him, but what did that really mean? Did he have a chance?

Momo didn't know and he obviously wasn't going to find out any time soon because before he could even get into the clubhouse after practice ended Ryoma was already dressed and gone.

Discovering this, Momo sighed and set off to go get his bike and start the trip home. Today was the first day of his being grounded so he wouldn't be able to go over to Ryoma's house and demand answers for at least a week. Maybe he'd be able to corner the brat tomorrow during school.

--

"He thinks I hate him, Karupin," Ryoma told his cat as he opened the door to his bedroom, careful not to step on Karupin as she rubbed up against his ankles. "Why would he think that? Do you know?"

Karupin looked up at him innocently and meowed softly. "Meow."

Ryoma sighed and closed the door quietly before dropping down onto his bed, emotionally exhausted by his day. "Why am I asking you? You weren't even there."

"Meow," Karupin agreed as she jumped up on his bed and head-butted his hip, clearly asking him to pet her so he did, running his hand through her thick silky fur.

"I just don't know what to do," Ryoma continued. "Do you have any ideas?" He paused in his petting to look down at his cat, who had climbed up onto his lap and was beginning to purr softly. Hearing his question, she opened her eyes to give him an impatient _are-you-really-this-stupid?_ look.

Mistaking her look for anger at not being petted, Ryoma started to pet her again, frowning softly as he fell into his own thoughts.

Part of him wanted to just go up to Momo and tell him that they should just stay friends, that's it, nothing more, but another part of him, the part that was loudly protesting this first part and feeling almost pleased by Momo's confession, wanted to go up to Momo and tell him that he loved him too and say something like, "Let's get over the mushy part and just be an us." Because that was really all he wanted, to be able to hang out with Momo like they used to. He'd been happy like that, it just being him and Momo with no questions about what they were to each other and whether they were gay or straight or bi or asexual. Because did any of that really matter in the end?

Obviously it did to some people otherwise he wouldn't be in this predicament.

Of course then there was that third part, the logical, rational, part that told him that neither of the previous parts' action would get him what he wanted. If he told Momo they should just stay friends there would always be that tension that came of knowing how Momo felt and the possibilities that were there and not taken. But, on the other hand, telling Momo he loved him was not only possibly lying, but it would also lead to some strange new relationship with Momo where sex things were normal and he would be completely out of his depth.

Couldn't there be a middle road somewhere? Maybe a choice where he gave Momo a chance but told him to take the new sex things slowly? Would that work?

It would certainly make everybody involved happy. Momo because he was getting a chance and Ryoma because he was making Momo happy.

Ryoma smiled as he continued to softly pet Karupin. He had a plan.

But how to tell Momo?

--

Apparently Eiji and the other senpai hadn't quite given up on their mistletoe idea because almost every single door Ryoma came across the next day had mistletoe hung above it. It was starting to get really annoying, not that he had actually been kissing anybody because of it. Because honestly, who obeyed the rules of mistletoe in May?

"Horio! Horio! There's mistletoe! You have to kiss!"

Hearing this, Ryoma had to look up from his Science homework to find Horio stuck in the doorway with one of their female classmates. Ryoma tried to find her pretty and just couldn't do it.

"Kiss! Kiss!" the kids in the class urged and Horio obligingly leaned down the few inches and kissed the girl square on the mouth. Everybody burst out laughing as the girl screwed up her face in disgust and quickly wiped her mouth before hurrying out of the doorway and to her desk where a small crowd of her friends had gathered to giggle at each other.

Ryoma rolled his eyes and went back to the Science homework. Okay, so apparently some people still followed the rules.

He was able to avoid all other mistletoe experiences safely until lunch when he went in search of Momo. This search seemed to take a lot longer than expected and he finally found the other boy when Momo spotted him from a few yards away and shouted, "There you are! I've been looking all over for you!" before bounding over to Ryoma's side. "Come on," Momo said as he took Ryoma's arm and started to drag him over to a more private area. "Let's go somewhere quiet."

Not quite sure where this was going, Ryoma still decided to just go along with it because it served his own purposes in the end as well.

Finally they got to a spot under their usual tree, far away from all others, and Momo let go of his arm before turning to regard Ryoma seriously. "I just wanted to know one thing. What did you mean by the fact that you don't hate me?"

Ryoma frowned. "I mean I don't hate you."

"But does that mean I have a chance?" Momo looked so hopeful as he asked that, eyes wide and pleading.

Ryoma smirked at this and ducked his head. Sure he wanted to tell Momo he'd decided to give him a chance, but this sounded like he could have a little fun with it first. "I dunno. Can you stand being in a relationship with someone so young looking?"

Obviously not quite comfortable with having his words from two days ago being dragged into the here and now, Momo frowned and shifted uneasily. "You don't _really_ look all that young looking," he finally said, "I may have been over-exaggerating just a little." He put up his thumb and forefinger, holding them close together to show just how little he meant.

Ryoma looked up at Momo with a raised brow. "Just a little?" he repeated.

Momo shuffled his feet and let his hand drop back down to his side, looking away from Ryoma and his raised brow. He clearly didn't like having to admit that he was wrong. "Okay a lot," Momo finally allowed.

Ryoma clasped his hands behind his back and rocked back and forth on his feet, holding his head so Momo couldn't see the growing smirk. "How do I know you're telling the truth? You seemed to believe yourself two days ago."

"I was just . . . you know . . . upset," Momo tried to tell him, still looking uncomfortable. "I don't exactly like being gay, you know."

Here Ryoma looked up at Momo with guileless eyes, holding back his amusement for now. "Is it because of me?" he asked innocently.

"What?" Momo asked, clearly not understanding where he had gotten that from. "No. No. Of course it's not because of you."

"Are you sure?" Ryoma asked, still innocently, rocking back and forth on the soles of his feet again, hands still clasped behind his back. He bit his lip to hold back the smirk that wanted to form. Momo looked so uncomfortable.

"Yeah," Momo said, eyes darting down to Ryoma's lips and then up again to meet Ryoma's eyes. "Yeah, of course I'm sure. Why would you even think that?"

"Oh you know . . ." Ryoma said, looking away. "I just—Ryoma couldn't help it. He snerked. Then, trying to remain serious, he schooled his face into an innocent look and continued again, "I just thought because you were so upset about my looks I—Ryoma bit his lip again to hold back the laughter. Momo was actually falling for this innocent act?

Momo looked confused by the laughter. "What are you—then he seemed to get it. "Why you little _brat_," he said loudly, almost angrily but Ryoma could hear the laughter behind it. "You were winding me up the whole time."

Smirking widely, Ryoma shrugged and didn't bother to look innocent of the crime. "Maybe."

"No. You were," Momo said, looking at Ryoma in disbelief. "I can't believe you. Here I am being absolutely serious about a serious subject and you're acting all innocent and playing games. Echizen."

Ryoma just looked at him. "You deserved it."

Momo looked incredulous. "What for?"

"For two days ago," Ryoma told him with a frown. "For acting like you were becoming a pedophile just because you liked me."

"Alright, alright," Momo said, allowing him that, "You got me. Now can we be serious for a minute?"

"Never thought I'd hear you say that."

Momo smiled. "Never thought I'd say it either." Then he got a serious look on his face. "But I am serious. Does not hating me mean that I have a chance?"

Ryoma sighed and looked off to the right before turning back to Momo. "Yeah. Yeah, it does." He didn't like being serious, but he guessed he could put up with it for a short while. "I already thought about it too."

Momo waited anxiously for him to continue. "And?" he pressed.

"And I say yeah."

Momo visibly brightened. "Really?"

Ryoma gave Momo a warning look and added onto his previous statement. "As long as we go slow. No rushing."

"Of course not," Momo said, scoffing as though the idea of doing otherwise had never occurred to him. "Who do you think I am? I have to get used to the idea of gay sex things just like you, you know."

Ryoma still didn't look like he quite trusted him. "Right." There was a pause, each of them not quite sure of what to do next, broken by a happy squeal coming from the tree above them.

Looking up quickly, they were surprised to find that Eiji was in the branches of the tree. "Kiss! Kiss!" Eiji urged.

Momo looked confused and a little disturbed. "What are you doing up there? Did you hear everything?"

Eiji looked sheepish and a little embarrassed for a moment before answering his first question. "I was trying to hang some mistletoe just in case you two ate lunch together here and I got stuck." He paused a moment before admitting, "I, um, can't get down."

"Do you want us to go get Oishi-senpai?" Momo asked.

Eiji shook his head quickly at this. "No you have to kiss first! Love confessions always have to end in a kiss!"

Ryoma and Momo each eyed the other, somewhat embarrassed to have an audience.

"Look!" Eiji said, holding out a branch of mistletoe so that it was hanging over their heads and shaking it. "Mistletoe! Now you have to kiss!"

That was enough for Momo. Smirking a bit, he grabbed Ryoma by the arm and pulled him in close, hesitating just a moment before dragging Ryoma into a kiss. Feeling Ryoma smile a bit into the kiss and wrap his other arm around Momo's neck to deepen it, Momo wrapped his own arm around Ryoma's waist and the two quickly got lost in each other.

"Woo Hoo!" they vaguely heard Eiji cheer them on, but wouldn't let that distract them. "Go Ochibi!"

Finally pulling back from the kiss, Momo and Ryoma each smiled. This seemed like the start of something great.

--

That cheesy enough of an ending for you?

The End.


End file.
